^,,,^  .i  *«  »*,(«,;  ^^^^ 


PEINCBTON,  W.  J. 


O . uO^^^J-^^^-v^^/Cu^o^^A.^^-^ 


BX  9225  .R68  F3  1860 
Fairchild,  E.  R. 

^^'V- Memorial  of  the  life  and 

services  of  the  late  Rev 


LIBRARY  OF  PRINCETON 


MAR232005 


THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


MEMORIAL. 


'yi6/7i^/a^^ 


u/ 


MEMORIAL 


OF    THE 


LIFE  AND   SERVICES 


OF  THE  LATE 


Wy^ 


REV.  HENRY  A.  ROWLAND,  D.D., 

PASTOR  OF  THE 

PARK  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH, 

NEWAEK,  NEW  JEBSEY. 

BY  E.  R.  FAIROHILD,  D.  D. 


NEW  YORK : 

M.    W.    DODD,    506   BEOADWAY. 

1860. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1860,  by 
M.    W.     DODD, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  South- 
ern District  of  New  York. 


THE 


MEMORIAL. 


We  have  been  requested  to  give  a  sketch  of 
the  Life  of  the  late  Rev.  Henry  A.  Rowland, 
D.  D.,  late  Pastor  of  the  Park  Church  in  New- 
ark, New  Jersey.  We  have  hesitated  to  com- 
ply with  this  request,  lest  we  should  do  justice 
neither  to  him  nor  to  ourself ;  for,  to  describe 
him  as  he  was,  to  portray  him  under  the  dif- 
ferent aspects  in  which  he  appeared  as  the 
shifting  light  fell  upon  him,  requires  a  firm  and 
skilful  hand.  Others  too  may  be  more  com» 
petent  than  ourself  to  speak  of  his  minister 
rial  character  and  labors.  But  we  have  known 
and  loved  him  long,  we  have  seen  him  at  all 

hours  and  in  many  scenes,  we  have  followed 
1* 


6  MEMORIAL. 

his  course  from  youthful  to  riper  years,  and 
our  heart  has  pleaded  with  the  wishes  of  his 
friends  that  we  should  pay  this  tribute  to  his 
memory.  We  cannot  hope  that  it  will  be  a  last- 
ing record  of  his  useful  life  and  services,  but  it 
may  recall  some  things  which  those  who  knew 
him  will  wish  to  remember,  and  it  will  present, 
however  imperfectly,  the  example  of  a  warm- 
hearted, upright  and  generous  man,  frank, 
bold,  decided,  and  independent,  yet  cordial, 
sympathizing,  and  true,  fond  of  society,  full  of 
activity  ^nd  good  humor,  the  sincere  Christian, 
the  acceptable  writer,  the  faithful  and  success- 
ful minister  of  the  gospel.  We  shall  be  able, 
in  the  space  allowed  us,  and  under  the  circum- 
stances in  which  we  write,  only  to  trace  some 
of  the  influences  which  formed  his  character, 
and  to  give  a  mere  outline  of  his  labors.  The 
true  record  of  his  life  is  in  its  results,  not  yet 
nor  soon  to  be  complete,  and  is  to  be  found,  not 


MEMORIAL.  7 

in  these  fleeting  words,  but  in  the  communi- 
ties in  which  he  lived,  and  in  the  many  hearts 
there  and  elsewhere  which  he  drew  to  himself 
and  led  to  piety  and  virtue. 


Henry  Augustus  Eowland  was  born  of 
pure  Kew  England  stock  and  pious  ancestry,  at 
Windsor,  in  the  State  of  Connecticut,  on  the 
nineteenth  day  of  September,  eighteen  hun- 
dred and  four.  He  was  the  eldest  son  of  the 
late  Henry  A.  Eowland,  long  a  useful  minis- 
ter of  the  First  Congregational  church  of  that 
town,  and  was  a  grandson  of  the  Eev.  David 
S.  Eowland,  the  previous  minister  of  that 
church.  By  his  mother's  side  he  was  con- 
nected with  the  celebrated  divine  and  meta- 
physician, Jonathan  Edwards — one  of  the  truly 
great  men  of  New  England  and  America,  and 
for  a  short  time  the  President  of  Nassau  Hall ; — 


8  MEMORIAL. 

and  he  was  also  a  descendant  of  the  Eev.  John 
Warham,  the  first  minister  of  Windsor,  who 
had  been  "  a  famous  minister  in  Exeter,  the 
capital  of  the  County  of  Devon  "  in  England, 
and  was  "  one  of  the  principal  fathers  and 
pillars  of  the  churches  of  Connecticut."^ 

Dr.  Eowland  admired  the  noble  band  of 
exiles  for  religious  liberty  who  planted  New 
England,  and  was  fond  of  tracing  his  lineage 
to  the  first  settlement  of  his  native  town,  where 
his  ancestors  filled  the  sacred  of&ce  for  periods, 
amounting  together  to  nearly  a  hundred 
years.  Windsor^  as  is  well  known,  is  the  old- 
est town  in  the  State  of  Connecticut,  and  was 
settled  in  the  years  1635-6,  from  Dorchester  in 
Massachusetts,  the  name  of  which  town  for  a 
short  time  and  until  1687,  it  assumed.  As 
early  as  1633  the  Plymouth  people  came  up 

^  Trumbull's  Hist  of  Connecticut,  vol.  1,  pp.  23,  467. 


MEMORIAL.  y 

the  river  and  established  here  a  trading-house 
or  factory.     Beports  of  the  fertihtj  of  the  soil 
on  the  Connecticut  river  and  the  adaptation  of 
the  country  to  plantation  and  trade,  attracted 
settlers  across  the  wilderness.     In  September, 
1636,  the  Kev.  John  Warham,  who  had  been 
pastor   of  the   church  of  Dorchester  for   six 
years,  settled  at  Windsor.     His   church  and 
congregation,  the  whole  of  whom  are  said  to 
have  removed  to  this  new  place  of  abode,  had 
generally  preceded   him.     Mr.  Warham  had 
come  over  from  England  in  1630,  in  a  vessel  of 
four  hundred  tons,  with  an  "  honorable  com- 
pany "    drawn   from  three   English  counties, 
who,  having  been  formed  into  a  church  just 
prior    to    their    embarkation    at    Plymouth, 
brought  with  their  pastor   the  ordinances  of 
religion  to  a  place  in  the  wilderness,  which 
they  named  Dorchester,  whence,  as  we  have 
stated,  they  removed  a  few  years  later  to  the 


10  MEMORIAL. 

fertile,  but  tlien  savage  valley  of  the  Connec- 
ticut. Rev.  Mr.  Warham  was  pastor  of  the 
churcli  at  Windsor  for  thirty -four  years.  The 
historian  of  Connecticut  speaks  of  him  and  the 
Rev.  John  Davenport,  one  of  the  founders  of 
the  colony  of  Kew  Haven,  together  as  ''  those 
venerable  fathers  who  had  been  singularly  in- 
strumental in  planting,  and  had  long  illumi- 
nated, the  churches  of  Connecticut  and  New 
England."* 

Dr.  Rowland  often  referred  with  respect 
and  patriotic  pride  to  his  grandfather,  the  Rev. 
David  S.  Rowland,  who  was  a  graduate  of 
Yale  College,  and  preached  for  thirteen  years 
at  Plainfield,  Connecticut,  then  at  Providence, 
Rhode  Island,  and  afterwards  for  eighteen 
years  at  Windsor,  where  he  was  settled  March 


^  Trumbull's  Hist,  of  Coun.,  vol.  1,  pp.  465,  46t— Pal- 
frey's Hist,  of  New  England,  vol.  1,  pp.  339,  340,  369,  450, 
453,  454. 


MEMOKIAL.  11 

27th,  1776,  and  where  in  January,  1794,  he 
closed  his  ministry  in  its  forty -fifth  year,  and 
in  the  seventy -fifth  of  his  age.  While  pastor 
of  a  chnrch  at  Providence  he  preached  "at 
Wrentham  in  the  Province  of  Massachusetts 
Bay,  in  New  England,  on  the  14th  day  of 
July,  1774,  on  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer, 
occasioned  by  the  distressed  situation  of  public 
afi^airs,"  a  sermon  which  is  said  to  have  made  a 
great  sensation,  and  is  certainly  remarkable  for 
its  ability,  and  for  its  fearless  and  emphatic  an 
nouncement  at  that  early  period,  nearly  two 
years  before  the  declaration  of  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  colonies  was  signed,  of  the 
American  doctrines  of  civil  liberty.  The  text 
was,  "  My  little  finger  shall  be  thicker  than  my 
father's  loins."  He  breaks  forth  at  times  into 
a  rude  energy  of  expression,  and  assails  the 
doctrine  of  passive  obedience  with  contemptu- 
ous logic.     His  liberty -loving  grandson  keenly 


12  MEMORIAL. 

relished  the  argument,  and  caused  the  sermon 
to  be  pubhshed  in  one  of  the  public  prints  as 
an  example  of  the  freedom  and  independence 
of  the  pulpit  in  our  revolutionary  period. 

He  thus  speaks  of  his  grandfather  in  con- 
nection with  it :  "  The  Hon.  Judge  Daggett, 
of  Kew  Haven,  informed  me  that  he  was 
present  when  the  discoiirse  was  delivered,  and 
that  it  produced  a  very  great  excitement.  I 
have  been  told  by  my  father  that  my  grand- 
father was  a  powerful  and  eloquent  preacher, 
of  commanding  presence  in  the  pulpit,  and  of 
fine  elocution.  It  was  not  my  happiness  to 
know  him,  he  having  died  long  before  I  was 
born.  He  was  ever  a  firm  and  zealous  de- 
fender of  the  liberties  of  our  country  against 
foreign  aggression.  He  was  pastor  of  the 
Presbyterian  or  Congregational  church  in 
Providence,  Ehode  Island,  at  the  time  Avhen 
the  war  of  the  Eevolution  commenced.     So 


MEMORIAL.  13 

obnoxious  had  he  made  himself  to  the  enemies 
of   the   country  by  his    bold    and   patriotic 
defence  of  our  liberties  from  the  pulpit,  that 
when  the  town  of  Providence  was  invested  he 
fled  with  his  family  in  a  sloop  ;  and  during  the 
darkness  of  the  night  he  escaped  through  the 
enemy's  fleet  and  went   up    the   Connecticut 
ri/ver.      He   afterwards    settled    in   Windsor, 
where   he  died.     He   not   only  impaired  his 
fortune  in   the  cause  of  our  coiintry,  but  he 
equipped  a  son  and  sent  him  into  the  field, 
who  continued  in  the  service  seven  years  and 
to  the  close  of  the  war."     Two  of  his  sons 
were  clergymen, — the   late  Eev.  William  F. 
Eowland,    of    Exeter,    New    Hampshire,    an 
amiable   and   excellent    man,    and  the    Kev. 
Henry  A.  Eowland,  of  Windsor. 

Eev.  Henry  A.  Eowland,  who  was  a  grad- 
uate of  Dartmouth  College,  was  settled  at 
Windsor  in  1790,  as  the  colleague  of  his  father, 


14  MEMORIAL. 

and  remained  as   such    colleague    until    his 
father's  death,  or  for  about  four  years,  when 
he  became  the  sole  pastor  of  the  First  Congre- 
gational church  of  that  town,  where  he  died 
November  28th,  1835,  in  the  seventy-first  year 
of  his  age.      He   was  a  man   of   sense    and 
worth,  who  did  not  hesitate  to  speak  what  he 
regarded  as  the  truth  with  freedom  and  plain- 
ness.    He  was  of  unspotted  character,  and  was 
esteemed  as  a  sound  preacher,  and  as  '-'  in  doc- 
trine incorrupt."     He  was  much  interested  in 
the  religious  intelligence  of  the  day,  and  from 
the  first  in  those  benevolent  religious  enter- 
prises of  New  England,  then  in  their  infancy, 
which  have  since  grown  to  majestic  propor- 
tions.    In  his  parlor,  the  Constitution  of  the 
Connecticut  Bible  Society,  one  of  the  earliest 
Bible  societies  of  the  country,  was  drawn  up. 
The  interest  in  benevolent  objects  which  he 
felt  he  inspired  from  their  earliest  years  in  his 


MEMORIAL.  15 

children.  His  parisli,  in  all  parts  of  wHch  lie 
constantly  labored,  was  very  extensive,  run- 
ning no  less  than  eleven  miles  along  the  river, 
and  being  upon  an  average  perhaps  three 
miles  in  breadth.  His  first  wife  was  Elizabeth 
Newbery,  by  whom  he  had  one  child,  who 
died  in  infancy. 

On  the  14th  of  April,  1800,  he  married 
Frances  Bliss,  a  daughter  of  the  late  Moses 
Bliss,  of  Springfield,  Massachusetts,  a  woman 
of  great  loveliness  and  excellence  of  character, 
of  unusual  sweetness  and  modesty  of  disposi- 
tion, refined  feeling,  gentle  manners,  strong 
and  steady  affections,  and  warm  and  cheerful 
piety.  To  her  might  well  be  applied  the 
beautiful  lines  of  Pope— 

"  Oh  !  blest  with  temper  whose  unclouded  ray, 
Can  make  to-morrow  cheerful  as  to-day." 

Her  son  Henry  had  great  love  and  just  ad- 
miration for  his  mother. 


16  MEMOKIAL. 

Her  father  was  one  of  the  Rye  members  of 
the  bar  of  the  county  of  Hampshire,  in  the 
State  of  Massachusetts,  who  before  the  Eevo- 
lution  had  reached  the  rank  of  barrister,  and 
he  was  one  of  the  principal  advocates  and 
counsellors  in  that  county.  His  son,  the  late 
Hon.  George  Bliss,  himself  an  eminent  lawyer, 
in  an  address  to  the  bar  of  the  counties  of 
Hampshire,  Hampden,  and  Franklin,  in  1826, 
says  of  him :  "I  believe  he  was  generally 
esteemed  a  sound  lawyer  and  skilful  special 
pleader.  He  graduated  at  Yale  College  in 
1775,  studied  divinity,  and  preached  for  some 
time ;  after  which  he  read  law  a  year  with  Col. 
Worthington,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at 
November  Term,  1761,  and  left  practice  in  the 
year  1798."  Ee  married  Abigail  Metcalf,  a 
niece  of  President  Edwards,  by  whom  he  had 
a  numerous  family  of  children,  of  whom  the 
mother  of  Dr.  Kowland  was  one.    For  several  of 


MEMORIAL.  17 

tlie  later  years  of  his  life  he  was  a  judge  of  the 

Court  of  Common  Pleas  for  the  County  of 

Hampshire.     We  are  unable  at  this  distance 

of  time  to  state  for  what  reason  he  changed  his 

profession,  but  lie  was  a  man  of  character  and 

piety,  and  for  a  long  time  and  until  his  death 

was  a  deacon  of  the  First  Congregational  church 

in  Springfield.     He  died  July  3d,  1814. 

Of  the  happy  marriage  of  the  parents  of 

Dr.  Eowland,  there  were   five  sons  and  two 

daughters,  all  of  whom  lived  to  mature  life. 

Of  these  only  one  son  and  one  daughter  are 

now  living.     Their  parents  were  anxious  and 

careful  to  give  their  children  a  good  education ; 

and,  although,  the  father  had  a  very  moderate 

salary,  by  great  frugality  and  economy  they 

accomplished  the  object.     Three  of  the  sons 

received  a  liberal  education,  and  four  of  them 

entered  the  different  learned  professions.    Two 

of  them  became  ministers  of  the  gospel — two 
2* 


18  MEMORIAL. 

brothers  tlius  following  in  the  footsteps  of  two 
brothers  of  a  preceding  generation.     One  of 
the   brothers   of  Dr.  Eowland  was   the  Eev. 
James  Rowland,  who,  after  having  been  en- 
gaged for  some  years  in  the  practice  of  medi- 
cine,  abandoned   it    for  the  sacred  ministry, 
and  became  the   pastor  of  the  Presbyterian 
church   at   Circleville,   Ohio.     He  is   said  to 
have  been  "  a  marked  and  beloved  member" 
of  his  Presbytery,  and  was  an  earnest  and  in- 
teresting preacher.      When  the  cholera  pre- 
vailed in  the  place  of  his  residence,  he  per- 
formed    the    double   duty   of    minister    and 
physician.      He   died   at   Circleville   of   con- 
sumption, brought  on  by  his  incessant  labors, 
manfully  contending  with  disease  to  the  last, 
preaching  as  long  as  it  was  possible  to  preach 
and  until   within  three  months  of  his  death, 
continuing  to  use  his  pen  when  he  could  no 
longer  occupy  the  pulpit,  and  calmly  watch- 


MEMOKIAL.  19 

ing  his  own  ebbing  life,  until  bis  physician 
announced,  in  reply  to  an  inquiry,  that  his 
pulse  could  be  no  longer  felt. 

At  Windsor,  in  the  comfortable  home,  and 
amid  the  numerous  family  of  his  father,  who, 
to  supply  the  deficiency  of  his  salary,  culti- 
vated some  farming-lands,  and  had  some  farm- 
ing-stock, and  orchards  of  fine  fruit,  Henry 
spent  a  large  part  of  his  active  and  happy 
boyhood.  He  was  from  very  early  years  fa- 
miliar with  the  gun  and  the  fishing-rod,  and 
all  kinds  of  wood-craft  and  country  sports, 
and  to  a  certain  extent  such  rural  labors  as 
were  appropriate  to  his  age.  Thence  in  a  great 
measure  the  excellent  health  so  long  preserved 
by  him,  that  remarkable  flow  of  spirits  whicb 
was  so  characteristic  of  him  through  life,  and 
that  taste  for  the  brook  and  woods,  w^hich 
never  deserted  him.  His  native  place  was 
favorable  to  such  tastes  and  habits,- — an  old, 


20  MEMORIAL. 

quiet  farming  town,  with  broad  streets  and 
venerable  elms,  on  its  eastern  side  swept  for 
its  whole  length  by  the  Connecticut,  and  con- 
sisting of  a  zone  of  fertile  meadow  along  the 
river,  and  of  level  upland  with  fields  and 
woodland  behind.  Through  the  centre  of  the 
town,  past  the  church  which  crowned  its  bank, 
flowed  the  Farmington  river,  a  considerable 
stream,  which,  rising  in  the  mountains  of 
western  Massachusetts,  first  crosses  its  south- 
ern border  and  hurries  towards  the  ocean,  but 
suddenly  turning  northward  at  Farmington 
with  reverted  steps,  as  if  loth  to  leave  the 
pleasant  countrj^  from  which  it  comes,  here 
runs  easterly  and  separates  the  town  into 
nearly  equal  parts.  The  town  originally  com- 
prehended large  tracts  of  land  on  both  sides  of 
the  Connecticut  river,  and  in  the  part  of  Wind- 
sor, on  the  eastern  side,  now  East  Windsor, 
in  1703,  Jonathan  Edwards  was  born.     Like 


MEMORIAL.  21 

Dr.  Rowland,  he  died  at  the  age  of  fifty-five 
years. 

"^TATIS   LV.    HEU   NIMIS   BREVIS,"^ 

and  his  ashes  also  rest  away  from  his  native 
place  in  the  soil  of  New  Jersey.  Windsor  has 
another  title  to  distinction,  which  in  this  con- 
nection we  may  perhaps  be  pardoned  for  men- 
tioning. It  was  the  place  of  residence  of  Oli- 
ver Ellsworth,  the  ■  second  Chief  Justice  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  to 
whom  among  other  public  services  is  attribu- 
ted the  drawing  of  that  famous  act  of  Congress, 
the  judiciary  act,  under  which  the  Courts  of 
the  United  States  were  organized,  and  their 
business  has  ever  since  been  conducted.  He 
was  the  parishioner  at  Windsor  of  the  Rev. 
Mr.  RoAvland,  who,  on  the  death  of  Chief  Jus- 
tice Ellsworth  in  the  year  1807,  preached  his 
funeral  sermon. 

""•  Epitaph  of  Pres.  Edwards  at  Princeton. 


22  MEMORIAL. 

In  this  place,  among  such  traditions  and 
scenes,  and  under  the  instructions  of  such  par- 
ents, in  .the  freedom  and  affection  of  his  own 
home,  with  the  wide  range  of  his  father's  par- 
ish, and  a  free  welcome  at  the  houses  of  rela- 
tives and  friends,  Henry  spent  a  light  and  joy- 
ous youth,  full  of  life,  action,  and  excess  of  spir- 
its. Here  he  attended  school  until,  we  believe, 
his  thirteenth  year.  For  about  six  months  he 
then  went  to  the  grammar-school  in  Hartford, 
but  completed  his  preparation  for  college  at 
the  Academy  in  Springfield,  the  native  place 
of  his  mother,  where  for  that  purpose  he  re- 
sided at  the  house  of  an  uncle  for  two  years  or 
more.  He  pursued  his  studies  at  this  school 
with  considerable  diligence.  His  mind  was 
gaining  general  strength  and  expansion,  if  not 
much  accurate  learning.  He  was  now  the  ar- 
dent, resolute,  almost  impetuous  boy,  a  leader 
of  sports  on  land  and  on  water,  his  irrepressi- 


MEMORIAL.  23 

ble  spirits  breaking  out  in  his  intercourse  with 
his  friends  and  companions  on  all  occasions, 
and  in  spite  of  every  restraint,  in  laughter  and 
frolic.  In  the  circle  of  his  numerous  relatives 
at  Springfield,  who  were  so  closely  connected 
with  his  father's  family,  by  ties  of  relationship 
curiously  intertwined,*  that  all  might  be  con- 
sidered as  one  larger  family,  he  had  freedom  and 
indulgence,  and  his  social  nature  was  warmed 
and  developed. 

But  he  was  soon  to  enter  on  a  different 
scene.  In  September,  1819,  at  the  age  of  fif- 
teen, he  entered  Yale  College.  K  not  the 
youngest,  as  he  believed,  he  was  among  the 
youngest  of  a  class,  which  at  the  time  of  its 
graduation  in  1823  consisted  of  seventy -two 
members.      Of  the  four  years  spent  by  him 

*  Two  of  the  brothers  of  Mrs.  Rowland,  his  mother,  mar- 
ried, the  one  (Hon.  George  Bliss)  the  sister,  and  the  other 
(Mr.  Moses  Bliss)  the  niece  of  his  father. 


24  MEMOEIAL. 

in  college  he  always  retained  a  pleasant  and 
grateful  recollection.  He  was  ever  warmly 
attached  to  the  venerable  institution  at  which 
he  was  educated,  which  for  more  than  one 
hundred  and  fifty  years  has  pursued  its  career 
of  honor  and  usefulness,  and  which  has,  at  the 
present  time,  more  than  three  thousand  living 
graduates.  His  youth,  and  want  of  due  and 
thorough  preparation  for  college,  prevented  his 
taking  that  position  in  his  class  as  a  scholar 
which  he  might  have  otherwise  reached,  but 
he  always  considered  the  instructions  and  the 
discipline  which  he  obtained  there  as  of  great 
and  lasting  value. 

He  had  reason  to  remember  his  connection 
with  Yale  College  with  pleasure  and  gratitude, 
for  a  more  important  reason  :  he  experienced 
there  that  change  of  character,  compared  with 
which  all  others  are  trivial  and  unimportant. 
During  his  freshman  year  there  was  a  revival 


MEMORIAL.  25 

of  religion  in  New  Haven,  whicli  extended  to 

Yale    College.      His  attention  was   arrested. 

Under  the  preaching  and  familiar  instructions 

of  the  Eev.  Mr.  Nettleton,  who  was  active  in 

those  scenes,  he  was  deeply  penetrated  with  a 

sense  of  his  own  guilt  as  a  sinner,  and  of  his 

need  of  that  absolute  and  complete  renovation 

which  the  Scriptures  emphatically  call  a  new 

birth.     His  convictions  on  the  subject  were 

deep  and  permanent.     No  one  who  has  read 

his  works,  and  knows  how  competent  he  was 

to  guide  troubled  souls  in  the  terrible  conflict 

between  nature  and  grace,  between  the  powers 

of  darkness  and  those  of  light,  can  doubt  for 

a  moment  that  he  knew  much  of  that  conflict, 

and  something  of  the  victory  too.     He  had 

led  hitherto,  not  a  vicious,  but  a  thoughtless, 

careless,  heedless  life.     He  had  been  too  well 

instructed  not  to  know  that  a  life  without  God 

in  the  world  is  not  innocent  because  it  does 
2 


26  MEMOEIAL. 

not  break  out  into  bold  and  startling  trans- 
gressions, and  not  to  feel  the  claims  of  tlie 
law  of  God,  in  their  strictness  and  extent, 
wlien  pressed  upon  bis  awakened  conscience. 
The  lessons  of  his  youth,  and  his  familiar  ac- 
quaintance with  the  Scriptures  could  not  have 
left  him  much  in  doubt  as  to  the  plan  of  sal- 
vation, and  he  soon  found  peace  in  believing. 
The  change  in  his  character  and  course  of  life 
was  marked  and  decided.  Early  in  his  Sopho- 
more year  he  began  to  think  of  making  a 
public  profession  of  religion.  In  a  letter  to  a 
friend,  dated  17th  December,  1820,  after  say- 
ing that  his  time  is  very  much  taken  up  with 
his  studies,  and  expressing  his  earnest  desire 
that  the^Lord  would  pour  out  his  Spirit  on 
Springfield  and  Windsor,  and  his  anxiety  for 
the  salvation  of  some  of  his  young  friends,  he 
says :  ''I  have  lately  thought  a  great  deal 
about  making  a  profession  of  religion.     It  is  a 


MEMORIAL.  27 

very  important  'duty,  and  cannot  be  entered 
into  witli  too  much  prayer  and  self-examina- 
tion. It  is  a  great  thing  to  become  a  hum- 
ble, pious  follower  of  our  Saviour.  I  have 
thought,  if  I  made  a  profession  and  did  not 
according  to  it,  it  would  be  a  greater  dis- 
honors to  the  cause  of  Christ  than  if  I  never 
made  a  profession ;  but  God  is  able  to  keep 
me  from  dishonoring  his  cause,  and  if  I  trust 
in  him  he  will  do  it.  Some  of  my  companions 
will  come  forward  next  communion.  I  think 
that  I  shall  join  with  them.  ...  A  great 
number  are  to  be  united  to  the  church  in 
town.  The  revival  in  college  has  ceased ; 
who  would  have  believed  it  ?" 

On  the  7th  of  January,  1821,  in  his  Sopho- 
more year,  he  made  a  public  profession  of  his 
faith,  and  joined  the  College-church.  With 
his  usual  decision,  he  at  once  fixed  upon  his 
future  profession,  and  determined  to  preach 


28  MEMORIAL. 

the  gospel,  wlien  his  collegiate  and  theologi- 
cal education  should  be  completed. 

It  was  perhaps  natural  that,  with  his  line- 
age, he  should  think  of  such  a  course  of  life 
for  himself  He  had,  however,  on  the  other 
hand,  seen  the  trials  and  self-denial  incident 
to  the  ministerial  life  ;  and  its  restraints  were 
alien  to  his  natural  tastes  and  habits.  But 
his  ardent  and  generous  nature  had  been 
touched  by  the  love  of  the  Saviour,  and  by 
the  sense  of  his  duty  to  his  fellow-men  ;  and 
we  do  not  believe  that  from  the  time  he  was 
satisfied  of  his  own  claim  to  be  considered  as 
a  Christian,  he  hesitated  in  deciding  to  pro- 
claim to  others  that  mercy  which  he  hoped 
he  had  found  himself.  He  never  faltered  in 
that  determination.  The  fire  on  the  altar  of 
his  heart  might  at  times  burn  low,  but  it 
never  went  out. 

Although  the  ruling  motive,  purpose,  and 


MEMORIAL.  29 

desire  of  his  life  were  changed  by  religion, 
his  natural  constitution  was  unaffected.  His 
buoyant,  unchecked  spirits  springing  up  as 
from  a  living  fountain  of  health  and  enjoy- 
ment, his  sportive  humor,  his  warm  affections 
remained.  He  continued  to  give  free  play  to 
all  those  natural  impulses,  which  he  considered 
as  in  themselves  innocent.  There  was  never, 
at  any  time  of  his  life,  a  single  particle  of 
austerity  in  his  composition,  and  he  did  not 
believe  that  it  was  any  part  of  religion.  He 
never  could  see  why  any  person  should  be 
less  a  man  or  a  citizen  because  he  was  a 
Christian.  Through  life  he  was  without  dis- 
guise, the  enemy  of  form  and  pretence,  or 
what  appeared  to  him  to  be  such.  Simple 
and  natural,  fearless  and  self-reliant,  conscious 
of  his  own  honesty  and  sincerity,  he  spoke 
freely  as  he  felt.  The  rising  joke,  the  ludi- 
crous combination  of  images   which  amused 


80  MEMORIAL. 

himself,  the  strong  or  hyperbolical  expression 
by  which  he  might  give  emphasis  to  his 
opinions,  in  his  familiar  conversation  and  his 
lighter  writings  which  were  generally  the 
inspiration  of  the  moment,  he  did  not  try  to 
suppress.  Those  who  only  saw  the  foam 
which  sparkled  on  the  surface,  without  know- 
ing the  depth  of  his  character,  sometimes  mis- 
apprehended him. 

It  would  be  an  error  to  suppose,  however, 
that  his  simplicity  and  openness  arose  merely 
from  native  disposition — the  natural  sunshine 
of  his  heart.  Much  was  no  doubt  due  to  this 
cause.  But,  at  least  in  his  mature  life,  we 
think  that  they  sprang  also  from  his  convic- 
tion of  what  was  right  and  proper,  and  be- 
longed to  true  Christian  sincerity. 

And  when  we  reflect  on  the  impression  he 
made  on  others  by  these  qualities,  united  with 
his   disinterested    courage   and    large    heart, 


MEMORIAL.  31 

when  we  remember  the  strong  attachments 
which  they  inspired,  and  the  influence  they 
gave  him,  we  may  well  doubt  whether  the 
mistake  is  not  often  on  the  side  of  prudence, 
whether  indeed  timidity  is  always  prudence, 
and  whether  a  cold,  artificial  character,  faultless 
in  external  demeanor  but  wanting  in  free 
expression,  is  not  destitute  of  some  of  the 
strongest  elements  of  attraction  and  nobleness. 
At  that  youthful  period  of  life  of  which  we 
were  last  speaking,  he  was  overflowing  with 
animation,  with  quick  impulses.  He  uttered 
the  rising  thoughts  of  the  moment.  He  often 
startled — perhaps  he  liked  to  startle — ^those  of 
graver  habits,  by  his  disregard  of  mere  con- 
ventional forms,  or  what  were  deemed  the 
regular  proprieties  of  time  and  place.  Of  an 
affectionate  disposition,  the  presence  of  friends 
and  kindred  always  exhilarated  him,  and  in 
their  society  he  gave  the  freest  range  to  the 


32 


MEMOKIAL. 


expression  of  his  feelings.  He  had  a  vein  of 
humor,  afterwards  more  fully  developed,  and 
liked  to  indulge  it.  His  active  mind*  ran 
rapidly  from  grave  to  gay,  too  rapidly  often 
for  others  to  follow,  or  detect  the  subtle  thread 
of  association  by  which  he  had  been  led  from 
the  one  to  the  other. 

But  in  the  discharge  of  his  religious  duties 
he  was  always  serious  and  thoughtful,  and  in 
his  religious  principles  firm  and  consistent. 
In  all  the  methods  adopted  for  the  advance- 
ment of  religion  in  college  he  took  an  inter- 
ested part,  and  he  did  not  fail  to  admonish 
earnestly  his  young  friends  of  the  great  im- 
portance of  entering  upon  a  religious  life. 
His  practical  turn  of  mmd  was  also  at  this 
period  clearly  manifested.  But  he  was  yet  in 
the  immaturity  of  youth,  with  mind  and  char- 
acter forming,  but  in  a  great  measure  un- 
formed. 


MEMOKIAL.  33 

He  maintained  a  fair  cliaracter  and  standing 
througli  his  college  course,  and  liad  and  after- 
wards retained  tlie  respect  and  regard  of  the 
of6.cers  of  the  college,  as  well  as  of  his  class. 
He  was  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  Septem- 
ber, 1823,  at  the  early  age  of  nineteen  years. 

For  most  of  the  following  year  he  taught 
school,  first  a  "  small  but  pleasant"  school  of 
both  sexes  at  Glastenbury,  Connecticut,  for 
four  months,  and  then  for  six  months  "  a  large 
and  wearisome"  school  at  the  Academy  in  his 
native  town.  That  the  charge  of  this  Acade- 
my was  entrusted  to  him  by  those  who  had 
known  him  in  his  thoughtless,  boyish  days, 
shows  that  his  sterling  qualities  had  not  been 
overlooked.  He  found  no  difficulty  in  these 
early  trials  of  his  skill. 

In  the  meantime  he  was  reading  works  of 

standard  writers,  with  evident  reference  to  the 

profession  which  he  had  chosen.  In  the  autumn 
2^ 


84  MEMORIAL. 

of  the  next  year,  1824,  he  entered  the  Theo- 
logical Seminary  at  Andover,  Massachusetts. 
Here  he  was  very  studious  and  diligent,  and 
labored  with  earnestness  and  success  in  the 
several  departments  of  sacred  study.  His 
class  was  a  fine  one,  and  contained  several  who 
had  taken  the  highest  honors  of  college.  Un- 
der the  instruction  of  Woods,  Stuart,  and 
Eobinson,  he  laid  broadly  and  deeply  the 
foundations  of  his  professional  education.  In 
the  summer  of  his  second  year,  he  was  obliged 
by  ill  health  to  leave  the  Seminary  for  a  short 
time  and  to  go  home,  but  he  soon  returned. 
We  learn  from  one  of  his  letters,  that  up  to 
this  year  he  had  never  been  confined  by  sick- 
ness. In  the  winter  he  had  some  cold,  but  he 
says  that  he  "  took  some  warm  tea  and  put  a 
steam«engine  to  his  feet"  and  was  better.  The 
letters  written  by  him  while  he  was  at  Ando- 
ver testify  to  his  studious  habits,  and  break 


MEMORIAL.  35 

out  at  times  into  characteristic  humor.  Hav- 
ing remained  at  the  Theological  Seminary  for 
the  usual  term  of  three  years,  he  left  that  in- 
stitution in  the  autumn  of  1827. 

In  June  of  that  year,  while  yet  a  student  at 
the  Seminary,  he  was  licensed  to  preach  the 
gospel,  by  the  Hampden  Association,  an  asso- 
ciation of  Congregational  clergymen  of  the 
County  of  Hampden,  Massachusetts. 

He  went  to  New  York  in  the  autumn  of 
that  year,  and  undertook  an  agency  for  the 
American  Bible  Society.  He  is  described  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Society  as  at  this  time  "  young, 
ardent,  active,  full  of  cheerful  and  at  times 
mirthful  conversation,  yet  so  blended  mth 
frankness  and  good-nature,  and  all  so  obvious- 
ly devoted  to  the  interests  of  religion,  as  to 
render  him  an  agreeable  companion  and  a 
promising  minister."  He  was  first  employed 
in  the  State  of  New  York  in  the  counties  of 


36  MEMOKIAL. 

Columbia,  Eensellaer,  and  Albany.  In  the 
spring  of  tlie  following  year  he  passed  over 
to  Maine,  and  went  through  that  State.  Ee- 
turning  he  proceeded  through  the  lower  coun- 
ties of  the  State  of  Connecticut,  the  State  So- 
ciety having  just  contracted  its  labors  to  the 
four  Northern  counties.  He  continued  in  his 
agency  until  the  end  of  the  summer  of  1829. 
In  this  service  he  formed  in  these  three  States 
auxiliary  societies,  in  direct  connection  with 
the  parent  society,  with  branches  in  the  towns, 
connected  with  the  county  auxiliaries.  This 
was  an  important  work,  in  this  early  and  what 
may  perhaps  be  called  transition  period  of 
the  national  society,  when  it  was  extending 
itself  systematically  over  the  older  States. 
He  then  went  to  New  York,  and  took  the 
place,  or  discharged  the  duties  of  the  Secretary 
of  the  Society,  during  his  absence,  and  pre- 
pared, under  the  supervision  of  a  committee, 


MEMORIAL.  37 

certain  publications  for  the  Society.  One  of 
these  was  a  pamphlet  of  about  fifty  pages,  con- 
taining an  exact  and  detailed  account  of  the 
principles  and  operations  of  the  American 
Bible  Society,  and  of  the  manner  of  organiz- 
ing and  conducting  auxiliary  and  branch  so- 
cieties, with  numerous  precise  and  practical 
suggestions.  He  was  thus*  employed  until  the 
spring  of  1830.  We  have  reason  to  believe 
that,  in  his  connection  with  the  American 
Bible  Society,  he  showed  much  executive  abil- 
ity, and  we  are  assured  that  his  whole  course, 
while  he  was  connected  with  it,  was  such  as 
to  create  a  cordial  attachment,  which  lasted 
through  life,  between  him  and  its  board  and 
officers. 

He  was  next  invited  to  supply  the  pulpit  of 
the  Eev.  Dr.  Thomas  H.  Skinner  in  Philadel- 
phia, during  his  absence,  and  spent  the  sum- 
mer of  the  year  last   mentioned  in  the  dis- 


88  MEMORIAL. 

charge  of  this  duty.  In  these  various  employ- 
ments he  had  been  gaining  what  he  needed — 
experience,  maturity,  and  knowledge  of  man- 
kind. 

In  the  autumn  of  the  same  year,  he  was  in- 
vited to  the  Presbyterian  church  of  Fayette- 
ville,  in  the  State  of  South  Carolina,  and  ac- 
cepted the  invitation.  Before  entering  upon 
this  new  field  of  labor,  he  was  ordained  as  a 
Presbyterian  minister,  by  the  Presbytery  of 
New  York,  on  the  24th  day  of  November, 
1830,  at  the  church  of  which  the  Eev.  Mr. 
Carroll  was  pastor,  in  Brooklyn.  The  sermon 
on  this  occasion  was  preached  by  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Samuel  H.  Cox.  Mr.  Rowland  immediately 
entered  upon  his  ministerial  duties  at  Fayette- 
ville,  where  he  remained  for  about -three  j^ears 
and  a  half,  preaching  with  acceptance  and  suc- 
cess, and  being  greatly  respected  and  beloved. 


MEMORIAL.  39 

In  May,  1831,  the  disastrous  fire  occurred 
wliicli  laid  that  whole  city  in  ruins.  This  was 
an  event  which  called  forth  the  whole  activ- 
ity and  energy  of  Mr.  Kowland's  nature.  In 
the  conflagration  itself,  he  was  among  the 
foremost  and  most  intelligent  in  efforts  to  ar- 
rest the  fiery  deluge,  blowing  up  buildings 
which  lay  in  its  path  with  his  own  hands. 
By  his  letters  to  the  New  York  Journal  of 
Commerce,  and  to  the  National  Gazette,  under 
his  own  signature,  he  was  the  first  to  give  to 
the  North  tidings  of  this  dire  calamity.  In 
his  letter,  under  date  of  May  29th,  1831,  to 
the  editor  of  the  latter  newspaper,  he  gave  the 
following  vivid  and  affecting  picture  of  the 
appalling  devastation. 

''  Sir— Fayetteville  is  no  more  !  This  morn- 
ing the  sun  rose  upon  us  in  its  beauty,  and 
with  gladdened  hearts  we  flocked  to  the 
churches  of  our  God — now  we  are  in  ruins  ! 


40  MEMORIAL, 

But  two  stores  of  all  that  this  place  contained 
are  standing.  The  rest  are  entirely  consumed. 
Nothing  but  stacks  of  tottering  chimneys  re- 
mains to  tell  what  we  once  were. 

"  Except  in  the  outskirts  of  the  town,  and 
in  those  streets  which  are  a  little  off  from  the 
centre  of  our  town,  not  a  dwelling-house  re- 
mains. All  the  churches,  with  the  exception 
of  the  Methodist,  which  is  distant  from  the 
centre  of  the  town,  are  destroyed.  The 
academy,  the  two  splendid  hotels,  our  printing- 
offices,  the  two  banks,  the  old  state-house, 
every  apothecary's  shop,  and  some  of  our  mills, 
are  in  ashes. 

"The  fire  communicated  (it  is  supposed) 
from  a  chimney,  precisely  in  the  centre  of  the 
town,  and  spread  with  inconceivable  rapidity 
through  every  street.  It  was  just  after  the 
congregation  had  been  dismissed,  about  half- 
past  12  o'clock,  when  the  fire  was  first  dis- 


MEMORIAL.  41 

covered,  and  in  less  than  one  hour  and  a  half, 
our  village  was  literally  a  "sea  of  flame." 
The  goods  were  consumed  in  the  streets,  the 
engines  were  burnt  at  their  stands.  Some  who 
had  property  removed  to  a  distance  in  ex- 
pectation of  safety,  were  disappointed ;  too 
soon  the  devouring  element  reached  them. 
The  churches,  though  at  a  distance  from  each 
other,  w^ere  soon  in  flames.  The  tall  steeple 
of  the  Presbyterian  church  seemed  a  pyramid 
of  fire ;  for  a  while  it  stood  firm — soon  the  bell 
descended  with  a  crash — the  steeple  trembled, 
tottered,  and  fell.  The  Episcopal  church, 
which  apparently  caught  at  the  same  time,  was 
soon  in  ashes. 

"  As  I  wandered  through  the  outskirts  of  the 
place  to  administer  relief,  so  far  as  possible,  to 
the  distressed,  my  heart  sunk  within  me.  The 
sick  were  borne  out  of  their  houses,  and  were 
lying  on  pallets  in  the  street.     Others,  faint 


42  MEMORIAL. 

and  exhausted,  were  reclining  on  the  beds 
which,  had  been  thrown  out.  Every  moment' 
our  ears  were  stunned  with  the  explosion  of 
powder,  to  demolish  the  buildings,  which 
might  stay  the  flames.  But  although  many- 
were  thus  levelled,  there  was  not  strength  to 
pull  the  timbers  from  the  reach  of  the  con- 
flagration. 

"It  is  impossible  to  paint  the  heart-rending 
scenes  which  everywhere  occurred.  Parents 
were  inquiring  for  their  children,  and  children 
for  their  parents,  and  in  every  countenance 
reigned  despair. 

"I  have  been  round  the  fire  in  every  direc- 
tion, and  the  above  statements  are  the  result 
of  my  own  observation.  From  where  I  now 
write  I  can  perceive,  for  the  extent  of  nearly- 
half  a  mile,  the  light  which  flashes  up  from 
the  smouldering  ruins.  A  very  small  portion 
of  the  property  was   insured.     Most   of  the 


MEMORIAL.  43 

people  lost  'their  all !  Our  distress  may  be  par- 
tially imagined,  but  cannot  be  justly  conceived 
of.  Much  bodily  injury  was  experienced,  but, 
so  far  as  is  at  present  known,  no  lives  were 
lost.  What  results  may  be  ascertained  when 
our  friends  are  collected,  it  is  impossible  to 
say." 

His  letter  to  the  New  York  Journal  of 
Commerce,  \vritten  on  the  next  day  after  the 
fire,  was  still  fuller  and  more  affecting.  Not 
only  three  churches  and  the  other  public  build- 
ings already  mentioned,  but  as  nearly  as  could 
be  estimated,  one  hundred  and  five  stores, 
(being  all  but  three  in  the  town,)  inde- 
pendently of  warehouses,  dwelling-houses,  and 
out-houses  of  every  description,  and  mills, 
occupying  an  area  of  about  half  a  square  mile, 
were  burnt  up,  in  all  about  six  hundred  build- 
ings, being  consumed.  The  pecuniary  loss 
was  estimated  at  a  million  or  a  million  and  a 


44  MEMORIAL. 

half  of  dollars.  "  We  are  crowded  together  in 
the  outskh^ts  of  the  town,"  he  says,  "  and  many 
last  night  slept  in  the  open  air.  The  suffer- 
ings of  our  people  must  be  immense ;  some  of 
our  wealthy  citizens  are  stript  of  all  their 
property^  and  have  not  where  to  lay  their 
heads.  Not  even  their  clothes  were  saved. 
Though  so  far  as  can  be  ascertained,  no  lives 
were  lost;  yet  so  exhausted  and  faint  were 
many  that  they  threw  themselves  down  upon 
whatever  chanced  to  be  near  them,  and  others 
fell  in  the  street  and  were  obliged  to  be  carried 
home.  We  learn  that  numbers  are  sick  ;  and 
to  complete  our  misfortunes,  all  our  medicine 

shops  and  medicine  are  destroyed It 

is  our  hope,  that  by  the  blessing  of  Providence, 
before  the  season  for  the  fall  business  is  over, 
such  provision  may  be  made  by  our  merchants 
for  the  carrying  on  of  business,  that  our  lives 
may  be  sustained,  so  that  to  the  evils  of  heg- 


MEMORIAL.  45 

garij  may  not  be  added  those  of  starvation^ 
The  whole  country  was  roused  to  sympathy  by 
this  sad  event  and  these  touching  appeals. 
Other  accounts  followed,  or  were  published  in 
other  quarters.  Mr.  Rowland  was  soon  at  the 
North,  by  his  conversation  and  addresses  from 
the  pulpit,  making  a  deep  impression  in  regard 
to  this  painful  catastrophe ;  and  although  his 
appeals  were  directly  for  aid  to  rebuild  his 
own  church,  they  necessarily  led  him  to  de- 
scribe the  whole  scene  and  to  tell  the  whole 
moving  story.  Contributions  flowed  in  from 
all  parts  of  the  country.  Prompt  measures 
were  taken  in  Raleigh  and  Wilmington  to  re- 
lieve the  necessities  of  the  sufferers.  The 
merchants  of  Fayetteville  were  received  with 
the  greatest  kindness  by  the  merchants  of  New 
York,  who  notwithstanding  their  own  severe 
losses  by  the  fire,  contributed  liberally  to  the 
town,  and  assisted  by  the  credit  which  they 


46  MEMORIAL. 

extended  to  the  mercliants  of  that  place,  to  re- 
establish its  business.  The  amount  contrib- 
uted to  the  relief  of  the  town  was  not  far  from 
a  hundred  thousand  dollars,  the  larger  portion 
of  which,  we  presume,  was  from  the  North. 
The  country,  it  must  be  remembered,  was  far 
less  rich  then  than  it  is  now.  Some  idea  may 
be  had  of  the  difference  by  comparing  the 
revenue  and  expenditures  of  the  General  Grov- 
ernment  at  that  time  with  what  they  are  at  the 
present  time.  We  can  hardly  be  mistaken  in 
attributing  to  Mr.  Kowland  a  large  part  in  the 
result  shown  in  this  generous  bounty. 

Before  a  week  from  the  day  of  the  fire  had 
expired,  by  a  vote  of  the  session  of  the  Pres- 
byterian church,  he  was  authorized  and  re- 
qu.ested  to  solicit  funds  for  rebuilding  the 
church.  They  say  with  pathos :  "  Our  world- 
ly substance  is  gone ;  and  we  desire  more 
than  ever  to  seek  an  enduring  substance — a 


MEMORIAL.  47 

heavenly  inheritance.  But  alas,  we  have  no 
shelter  but  the  broad  canopy  of  heaven,  under 
which  to  meet  and  render  praise  and  homage 
to  the  Most  High."  No  part  of  the  funds  con- 
tributed for  the  relief  of  the  town  could, 
of  course,  be  applied  to  that  object,  and 
the  necessity  of  aid  was  more  urgent  that 
just  before  the  fire  a  special  and  successful 
effort  had  been  made  to  free  the  church  from 
debt,  so  that  the  loss  by  the  destruction  of  the 
edifice  was  absolute.  Mr.  Eowland  at  once 
came  on  to  the  North  and  visited  Baltimore, 
New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  other  cities,  to- 
gether with  different  towns  in  New  England 
and  its  vicinity,  and  from  the  pulpit  and  by 
personal  solicitation,  presented  the  case  and 
appeal  of  his  church  and  congregation ;  and  as 
every  town  where  it  was  desirable  to  solicit  aid 
could  not  be  reached  in  this  way,  he  prepared 
and  sent  to  many  churches  a  circular  letter, 


48  MEMORIAL. 

with  the  appropriate  text  prefixed :  "  Our  holy 
and  our  heautifal  house  where  our  fathers  praised 
thee,  is  burned  up  with  fire  ;  and  all  our  pleasant 
things  are  laid  wasted  The  appeal  was  suc- 
cessful. Liberal  contributions  for  this  object 
were  made  in  Baltimore,  Philadelphia,  New 
York,  Brooklyn,  Hartford,  Springfield,  Troy, 
Boston,  Newark,  and  many  other  places.  The 
amount  raised  by  Mr.  Eowland  for  rebuilding 
the  church  was  not  less  than  from  seven  to 
nine  thousand  dollars.  Tlie  funds  collected 
were  almost  suf&cient  to  rebuild  both  the 
church,  which  had  originally  cost  about  twenty- 
five  thousand  dollars,  but  of  which  the  walls 
had  been  left  standing  by  the  fire,  and  the  ses- 
sion-house, and  on  the  12th  of  August,  1831, 
the  former  reconstructed,  was  joyfully  dedi- 
cated to  the  worship  of  Almighty  God.  Mr. 
Eowland,  in  his  discourse  delivered  on  that 
occasion  and  afterwards  published,  of  which 


MEMORIAL.  49 

the  theme  was  "  The  real  glory  of  a  church," 
from  the  text,  "  The  glory  of  the  latter  house 
shall  be  greater  than  the  glory  of  the  former, 
saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts,"  pronounced  the  new 
edifice  to  be  a  inomiment  of  Christian  benevo- 
lence, and  a  new  evidence  of  God's  goodness, 
and  rendered  the  thanks  of  a  grateful  people 
to  their  benefactors. 

Although  it  fills  some  space,  we  could  not 
resist  giving  this  beautiful  picture  of  sympathy 
and  gratitude.  The  misfortune  was  almost 
unexampled,  the  liberality  happily  not  so. 
The  instances  of  Fayetteville  and  Norfolk 
show  how  the  great  heart  of  the  nation  really 
beats,  and  how  it  pours  its  blood  to  repair  the 
wounded  part,  however  diverse  may  be  the 
circumstances  and  convictions  of  duty  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  country. 

}>Ir.  Rowland  continued  his  labors  at  Fayette- 
ville with  great  pleasure  to  himself,  and  as  he 


50  MEMORIAL. 

hoped  not  without  profit  to  his  people,  and 
with  strong  mutual  affection  between  them 
and  himself,  until  the  spring  of  1834.  Nothing 
ever  occurred  to  disturb  tlieir  harmony.  His 
frankness  and  freedom  and  warmth  of  feeling 
were  congenial  with  the  Southern  character. 
In  1838,  through  his  efforts  the  Donaldson 
Academy  was  established  at  that  place.  On 
the  fifteenth  day  of  August  of  that  year  he  was 
married,  at  the  city  of  New  York,  to  Harriet 
Heyer,  with  whom  he  had  become  acquainted 
durinof  his  visit  there  in  ei^^hteen  hundred  and 
thirty-one.  Her  modesty  will  forbid  me  to 
say  more  than  that  she  is  the  daughter  of  the 
late  Isaac  Heyer,  a  merchant  of  that  city,  and 
was  the  beloved  and  faithful  wife  of  the  hus- 
band whom  she  survives.  Sorrow  trod  closely 
on  the  heels  of  gladness.  Only  three  days  af- 
ter his  marriage  his  mother  died  at  Windsor, 
and  he  reached  his  father's  house  just  in  season 


MEMORIAL.  51 

to  hear  her  last  words,  which  were  "my  sod," 
as  he  bent  over  and  told  her  that  he  had  come. 

Finding  the  doctrines  of  the  Presbyterian 
church  much  misunderstood  and  misrepresent- 
ed, he  preached  and  published  this  year  a 
sermon  entitled  "The  elect  saved  by  faith," 
and  in  the  following  year  he  published  "A 
conversation  on  decrees  and  free-agency,"  in 
the  form  of  a  familiar  dialogTie  between  James 
and  John,  a  plain  and  forcible  exposition  of 
the  doctrines  of  the  Presbyterian  confession 
of  faith  on  these  topics.  Both  of  these  publi- 
cations show  much  logical  ability  and  discrimi- 
nation for  his  age. 

The  North  Carolina  Presbyterian,  a  religious 
newspaper  printed  at  Fayetteville,  thus  speaks 
of  his  ministry  there:  "Though  twenty-five 
years  have  elapsed  since  he  left  Fayetteville, 
his  memory  is  tenderly  cherished  by  many  cf 
our  citizens,  and  sincere  sorrow  is  expressed 


52  MEMORIAL. 

at  his  death.  Here  he  began  his  regular  min- 
istry, and  his  early  labors  were  greatly  blessed 
to  the  conversion  of  souls  and  the  edification 
of  the  church.  It  was  during  his  pastorate 
that  the  great  fire  of  1831  occurred,  in  which 
the  Presbyterian  house  of  worship  was  reduced 
to  ashes.  We  have  learned  that  Mr.  Kowland 
had  intended  resigning  his  charge  about  that 
time,  but  the  calamitous  event  which  deprived 
his  people  of  their  sanctuary  changed  his  pur- 
pose, and  he  determined  to  remain  and  con- 
tinue his  labors  until  the  church  was  rebuilt. 
His  ardor  and  enthusiastic  energy  were  conta- 
gious, and  his  congregation  entered  with  zeal 
upon  the  work  of  replacing  the  edifice. 
Through  his  influence,  large  contributions 
were  obtained  from  abroad,  and  in  a  few 
months  the  house  was  erected,  which  remains 
to  this  day. 

"  Three  years  after  the  building  was  erected, 


MEMORIAL.  53 

and  chiefly  through  his  agency,  Mr.  Rowland 
resigned  the  charge  and  accepted  the  call  of 
the  Pearl  Street  Church  in  New  York.  Truly 
the  Presbyterians  of  Fayetteville  owe  him  a 
heavy  debt  of  gratitude,  and  not  without  rea- 
son have  we  heard  the  frequent  expressions 
of  unaffected  grief  from  several  of  our  older 
citizens  during  the  past  week  in  view  of  his 

recent  death 

*'  There  are  few  churches  in  the  Union,  and 
in  fact  we  cannot  name  one,  which  can  point 
with  honest  pride  to  such  a  succession  of  able, 
faithful  and  godly  ministers  as  the  pastors  of 
the  Fayetteville  church.  Kerr,  Robinson, 
Flinn,  the  three  Turners,  Morrison,  Snodgrass, 
Hanmer,  Kirkpatrick,  Rowland,  and  Gilchrist 
— ^this  is  the  honored  list  whose  names  have 
graced  her  annals,  and  to  whose  virtues  she  re 
fers  with  grateful  affection." 


54  '  MEMORIAL. 

While  lie  was  at  Fayetteville,  and  during 
the  winter  of  1833,  he  received  two  calls  to 
churches  in  the  city  of  New  York ;  one  of 
them  was  to  be  the  colleague  of  the  Eev.  Dr. 
Mathews,  pastor  of  the  South  Dutch  Church, 
and  the  other  to  be  the  sole  pastor  of  the  Pearl 
Street  Church  in  that  city.  The  former  he 
rejected,  and  the  latter  accepted. 

He  was  installed  as  pastor  of  the  Pearl 
Street  Church,  April  17th,  1834.  He  labored 
here  with  great  diligence  and  fidelity  for  about 
nine  years.  His  life  during  that  period  was 
that  of  a  faithful  pastor,  and  for  the  most  part 
unmarked  with  striking  incidents.  He  was 
punctual,  conscientious,  and  systematic.  His 
sermons  were  clear  and  forcible,  and  generally 
expository  and  argumentative,  and  were  of  a 
very  uniform  degree  of  excellence.  He  aimed 
not  to  amuse  his  hearers,  but  thoroughly  to 
instruct  them  in  the  great  principles  of  Chris- 


MEMORIAL.  55 

tianity,  and  to  lead  them  to  accept  and  obey 
the  truth.  He  dwelt  a  good  deal  on  the 
responsibility  and  sinfulness  of  man,  on  the 
extent  and  perfection  of  the  divine  law,  on  the 
nature  of  the  moral  government  of  God  and  of 
his  character,  and  on  the  necessity,  sufficiency, 
and  amplitude  of  the  provisions  of  the  gospel, 
while  he  did  not  omit  to  enforce  constantly 
the  practical  duties  of  life.  He  patiently 
sought  to  remove  difficulties  by  kindness,  ex- 
planation and  argument,  and  not  by  denuncia- 
tion ;  and  as  by  mixing  freely  with  mankind 
he  saw  that  there  was  a  great  deal  of  unsus- 
pected scepticism  afloat  in  the  current  conver- 
sation of  worldly  men,  so  that  the  truths  of 
the  Bible  glance  off  from  many  minds,  because, 
while  the  authority  of  the  Bible  is  not  expressly 
denied,  its  truths,  from  a  lurking,  unexamin- 
ing  scepticism,  are  doubted,  or  not  admitted  to 
be  true,  or  perhaps  wholly  disbelieved,  he  en- 


56  MEMOEIAL. 

deavored  in  the  later  years  of  his  ministry  in 
New  York,  by  carefully  tracing  back  to  inf.del 
writers  tfce  sayings 'of  such  men,  to  expose 
them  in  all  their  real  deformity, 

*'  For  no  falsehood  can  endure 
Touch  of  celestial  temper,  but  returns 
Of  force  to  its  own  likeness," 

and  bring  them  to  the  test  of  reason  and  good 
sense. 

His  sermon-books,  or  records  of  sermons 
preached,  which  were  neatly  and  regularly 
kept,  show  his  great  interest,  an  interest 
always  felt,  in  the  attendance  of  his  con- 
gregation at  church,  and  here,  as  well  as  at 
Honesdale  and  Newark,  contain  notices  from 
Sabbath  to  Sabbath  of  such  attendance  and 
of  the  state  of  the  weather  or  other  circum- 
stances, and  the  earlier  ones  even  occasionally 
of  the  absence  of  prominent  men.     Sometimes 


MEMORIAL.  57 

otiier  memoranda  were  made  in  them,  usually 
of  the  briefest  possible  character.  At  the 
close  of  1837  this  one  occurs : 

"In  the  beginning  of  the  year  1837,  a 
protracted  meeting  was  held  every  evening 
for  two  weeks.  It  resulted  in  the  hopeful 
conversion  of  about  fifteen  or  sixteen  souls, 
chiefly  of  the  young.  The  Lord  be  praised! 
When  I  came  to  Pearl  street  church,  there 
were  only  four  individuals  who  were  heads  of 
families,  who  were  unconverted,  the  building 
old,  dark,  and  tomb-like.  Providentially,  it 
was  burned  in  April  [May],  and  we  are 
about  erecting  a  better  in  its  place.  My  min- 
istry for  three  years  and  eight  months  up  to 
this  time  has  been  pleasant,  and  I  hope  not 
without  profit.  Some  left  the  church  and 
joined  the  new  church,  corner  of  Crosby  street 
and    Grand.      Some   went    to   Duane   street. 

But  their  places  have  been  supplied  by  others 
3* 


58  MEMORIAL. 

wlio  came  in,  so  that  tlie  churcli  remains  in 
numbers  about  the  same.    Dec.  20,  1837." 

The  destruction  of  the  old  edifice,  which 
was  by  a  fire  canght  from  an  adjacent  build- 
ing, Mr.  Kowland  did  not  regret,  as  will 
appear  by  the  following  entry  made  at  the 
time :  "  May  2nd,  Old  Pearl  street  burnt  at 
five  o'clock  this  morning,  whereat  we  re- 
joice." 

He  knew  that  the  society  would  never 
flourish  within  its  uninviting  walls.  This 
deprivation  of  a  place  of  worship  was,  how- 
ever, a  new  call  for  energy,  and  it  was  well 
and  cheerfully  met.  He  had  his  people  to 
keep  together  as  far  as  possible,  under  new 
and  difficult  circumstances,  and  he  had  to 
assume  new  responsibilities.  His  congrega- 
tion were  invited  to  meet  in  the  Bowery 
church,  at  the  corner  of  the  Bowery  and 
Walker  street,  about  three  quarters  of  a  mile 


MEMORIAL.  oy 

distant  from  the  site  of  the  Pearl  street  church, 
and  the  Bowery  church  having  no  pastor, 
both  congregations  met  together  as  one.  He 
ministered  to  the  joint  congregation  from 
June  4th,  1837,  to  October  7th,  1838,  or  for 
about  sixteen  months,  when  the  Bowery 
church  having  been  occupied  by  a  new  Con- 
gregational church,  his  own  congregation  were 
"  doomed  to  wander  for  three  Sabbaths,"  and 
then  met  in  the  lecture-roorn  in  the  basement 
of  the  new  church.  On  the  14th  of  April, 
1839,  nearly  two  years  after  the  old  building 
had  been  destroyed,  the  new  edifice,  a  large 
and  commodious  but  neat  and  plain  structure 
of  brick,  was  dedicated  to  divine  worship. 
The  old  building  was  insured  at  the  time  of 
the  fire,  but  the  new  one  was  unfortunately 
left  under  a  heavy  debt.  The  locality,  although 
hardly  a  block  east  from  Broadway,  bordered 
on  the  worst  part  of  the  city,  and  was  particu- 


60  MEMORIAL. 

larly  unattractive,  and  it  was  almost  under  the 
shadow  of  the  spacious  Broadway  Tabernacle, 
which  threw  its  doors  open  freely  to  all.  The 
church,  though  virtually  Presbyterian,  was 
nominally  and  perhaps  legally  an  Associate  Ee- 
formed  church,  in  connection  with  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  and  its 
name  as  an  Associate  Eeformed  church,  which 
could  be  only  attractive  to  the  members  of 
a  small  denomination,  if,  under  the  circum- 
stances, to  any,  was  conspicuously  inscribed 
on  the  new  edifice.  The  prospect  was  not 
very  auspicious,  therefore,  for  the  external 
prosperity  of  the  church.  But  Mr.  Rowland 
met  bravely,  and  with  his  usual  good  spirits 
and  generosity,  all  difficulties.  At  his  settle- 
ment, he  received  the  bond  of  responsible 
trustees,  for  his  annual  salary  of  two  thousand 
dollars,  but  having  some  other  means  for  the 
support  of  his  family,   he  subscribed   every 


MEMORIAL.  61 

year  largely  towards  the  expenditures  of  the 
society,  and  in  one  instance  at  least  the 
sum  of  five  hundred  dollars.  Wherever  he 
was,  he  always  endeavored  by  precept  and 
example  to  educate  his  people  to  liberality  to 
benevolent  objects.  During  his  residence  in 
ISTew  York,  the  centre  of  so  many  benevolent 
operations,  he  took  a  warm  and  active  interest 
in  such  operations. 

On  the  12th  of  July,  1841,  the  Broadway 
Tabernacle  Presbyterian  Church,  its  pastor, 
Dr.  Joel  Parker,  having  accepted  the  Presi- 
dency of  the  Union  Theological  Seminary  in 
the  city  of  New  York,  united  with  the  Pearl 
street  church.  Of  that  seminary,  Mr.  Rowland 
Y/as  one  of  the  original  and  earnest  promoters. 
*  In  this  year  his  heart  was  gladdened  by  the 
union  of  about  seventy  with  his  church,  thir- 
ty-four on  the  profession  of  their  faith  and  the 
rest  on  letter  or  certificate  from  other  churches. 


62  MEMORIAL. 

Of  these,  thirty-five  were  admitted  on  a  single 
Sabbath  in  March,  twenty-five  of  them  on  the 
profession  of  their  faith.  His  labors  in  other 
years  of  his  ministry  in  New  York  were  not 
unrewarded,  but  not  to  the  same  degree  or  as 
he  wished.  We  cannot  enter  into  details.  He 
labored  hard  to  induce  those  to  become  relig- 
ious who  were  not  so,  and  anxiously  watched 
each  sign  of  awakened  interest.  He  warned 
and  instructed  with  fidelity  and  constancy,  re- 
lying not  upon  arts  or  eloquence,  but  upon 
God  himself,  to  give  efficacy  to  his  truth,  when 
clearly  expounded  and  faithfully  taught. 

He  went  everywhere  and  was  familiarly  ac- 
quainted with  all  his  congregation  and  their  cir- 
cumstances, and  met  the  poorest  with  heartfelt 
and  unpretending  sympathy,  and  readiness  for 
their  relief.  His  active  habits  continued  to 
him  in  vigor  what  clergymen  are  apt  to  lose, 
health  ;  and  in  his  annual  visits  to  his  native 


MEMORIAL.  63 

place,  or  on  two  or  three  warm  days  of  mid- 
autumn,  he  would  steal  away  with  his  rod  and 
line  and  a  pleasant  companion,  to  enjoy  the 
open  air,  the  beautiful  face  of  Nature,  and  to 
take  the  finny  prey.  He  regarded  himself  as 
in  this  respect  of  true  Apostolical  descent,  and 
had  a  seal  which  he  sometimes  used,  with  ap- 
propriate emblematic  device  and  the  words 
^^ piscaiores  hominum^^^  fishers  of  men.  In 
May,  1842,  he  notes  that  he  was  sick-a-bed, 
the  first  time  he  believes  he  was  ever  pre- 
vented from  being  in  the  pulpit  by  ill  health. 

The  city  could  not  make  him  artificial,  or 
otherwise  than  guileless,  though  it  gave  him 
that  knowledge  of  the  world,  which  few  cler- 
gymen possess,  and  made  it  not  easy  to  deceive 
him  hf  shallow  pretension. 

His  frank  and  good-humored  manners,  and 
his  steady,  upright  course,  made  him  many 
friends,  and  gave  him  a  wide  influence  in  the 


64  MEMORIAL. 

city  out  of  his  own  congregation.  His  breth- 
ren in  the  ministry  will  tell  what  confidence 
they  had  in  him,  and  what  respect  and  affection 
for  him. 

For  many  years  while  he  resided  in  New 
York,  he  was  the  recording  clerk  of  the  Synod 
of  Kew  York  and  New  Jersey.  He  was  strong- 
ly opposed  to  the  exscinding  act,  by  which 
four  Synods  were  cut  off  from  the  Presbyte- 
rian church,  and  by  which  the  denomination 
was  cleft  in  twain ;  and  in  the  separation,  which, 
attended  with  much  bitterness  at  the  time,  has 
resulted  perhaps  in  the  unexpected  growth  and 
prosperity  of  both  branches  of  the  church,  he 
adhered  with  his  own  church  to  what  was 
called  the  New  School  or  Constitutional  As- 
sembly. • 

In  November,  1835,  about  two  years  and  a 
half  after  his  mother,  his  father  died.  But  in 
his  own  hospitable  home,  in  pleasant  inter- 


MEMORIAL.  65 

course  with  two  brothers  residing  in  the  city, 
and  with  the  family  of  his  mother-in-law, 
daughters  of  whom  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  Forsyth 
and  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Abraham  Polhemus  also 
married,  in  the  circles  of  friendship  and  in  the 
pursuit  of  the  great  objects  of  his  calling,  his 
heart  found  room  to  expand  and  was  gratified. 
Pecuniary  difficulties,  however,  continued  to 
press  upon  his  congregation.  The  tide  of  pop- 
ulation, which  has  now  almost  left  bare  of 
church-going  people  the  lower  part  of  the  city 
and  swept  along  with  it  nearly  all  the  churches, 
had  begun  to  roll  strongly  up  town.  Under 
the  circumstances  which  were  found  to  exist, 
Mr.  Rowland  thought  he  might  be  more  use- 
ful elsewhere,  and  instead  of  contending  with 
those  circumstances  as  he  might,  unexpectedly 
called  a  meeting  of  the  congregation,  and  on 
the  seventh  day  of  January,  1843,  laid  before 
them  his  resignation  of  the  charge  of  Pearl  street 


66  MEMORIAL. 

church.  The  congregation  by  a  lage  vote  ex- 
pressed their  confidence  in  him,  their  attachment 
to  him,  their  belief  in  the  soundness  of  his  doc- 
trines, and  their  regret  at  parting  with  him,  but 
as  he  desired  acquiesced  in  his  determination. 

He  commenced  his  ministry  in  Honesdale, 
in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  on  the  7th  of 
May,  1843. 

This  is  a  fine  village,  or  borough,  in  the 
county  of  Wayne,  in  that  State,  then  of  per- 
haps two  or  three  thousand,  now  of  five  or 
six  thousand  inhabitants,  lying  on  the  Lacka- 
waxen,  a  branch  of  the  Delaware  river,  not 
far  from  the  great  coal  region,  and  at  the  head 
of  the  Delaware  and  Hudson  canal.  It  is  en- 
circled and  nearly  enclosed  by  hills,  and  has  a 
thriving  population  of  which  a  considerable 
part,  at  least  of  the  earlier  inhabitants  and 
their  descendants,  is  of  ISTew  England  origin. 

This  was  the  scene  of  Mr.  Rowland's  ardent 


MEMORIAL.  67 

and  earnest  labors  for  more  than  twelve  years 
and  a  half.  While  he  lived  here,  his  principal 
works  were  prepared  for  the  press  and  pub- 
lished. He  spent  here  many  happy  days  of 
widening  influence  and  usefulness. 

After  an  absence  for  a  short  time  at  Phila- 
delphia, in  attendance  on  the  General  Assem- 
bly, and  its  Committee  ad  interim^  of  which  he 
was  clerk,  he  was  installed  as  the  pastor  of  the 
Presbyterian  church  at  Honesdale,  on  the  14th 
of  June,  1843.  At  the  time  of  his  settlement 
the  church  was  in  a  depressed  and  distracted 
condition.  But  it  had  given  him  a  unanimous 
call,  which  he  had  deemed  it  as  his  duty  to 
accept,  and  under  his  bold  and  faithful  minis- 
try it  became  strong  and  flourishing. 

While  he  was  its  pastor  it  was  blessed  with 
three  or  four  revivals  of  religion,  during  whicli 
some  of  his  own  children  were  hopefully  con- 
verted and  brought   into   the  church.      One 


68  MEMORIAL. 

of  these  was  in  the  winter  of  1844.  A  series 
of  special  meetings  was  held,  commencing  in 
January  of  that  year.  Mr.  Kowland's  labors 
during  this  winter  were  very  arduous.  Up  to  the 
25th  of  February  of  that  year  he  had  preached 
almost  every  day  at  Honesdale,  or  at  Carbon- 
dale,  and  Prompton.  On  the  3d  of  the  follow- 
ing March,  thirty-seven  were  added  to  the 
church  at  Honesdale,  thirty-four  of  them  on 
the  profession  of  their  faith.  At  the  close  of 
the  year  he  thus  records  the  result.  "  A 
blessed  year,  fifty  admitted  to  the  church,  forty- 
one  on  profession.  0  God,  I  bless  thee  for  the 
fruit  of  my  ministry  the  past  year.  Oh,  may  the 
coming  year  be  more  abundant  in  the  harvest  of 
souls,  and  thine  shall  be  the  glory."  We  do 
not  hesitate  to  let  the  perfume  of  these  pious 
breathings  float  over  our  pnges,  for  we  know 
that  Mr.  Eowland  was  too  honest  and  sincere 
a  man  to  express  in  these  private  memoranda 


MEMORIAL.  69 

anything  but  what  he  felt.  He  was  not  accus- 
tomed to  speak  of  his  own  personal  experi- 
ence or  feelings  on  the  subject  of  religion. 

In  1847  there  was  some  special  interest  in 
his  congregation  on  that  subject,  and  about 
twenty  were  admitted  to  the  church  during 
that  year.  He  says  of  it :  "A  pleasant  minis- 
terial year,  not  unprofitable,  I  hope.  Every- 
thing quiet  and  peaceful."  In  the  year  1848, 
the  church  having  become  too  small  for  his 
congregation,  a  subscription  of  nearly  three 
thousand  dollars  was  made  to  repair  and  en- 
large it,  and  to  pay  off  the  debt.  The  edifice 
in  its  increased  dimensions  was  enclosed  in  the 
autumn  of  this  year,  and  "  enlarged  and  beau- 
tified," was  opened  in  July  of  the  following 
year,  and  all  the  pews  taken.  But  Mr.  Row- 
land mourned  over  the  want  of  the  like  spirit- 
ual prosperity.  During  this  year  he  had  re- 
peated applications  from  the  Central  Presbyte- 


70  MEMORIAL. 

rian  church  of  Philadelphia  for  leave  to  give 
him  a  call,  but  he  declined. 

He  began  his  record  of  sermons  for  the  fol- 
lowing year  with  the  invocation,  "0  let  thy 
Holy  Spirit  descend  upon  us,  Lord !  0  God, 
grant  thy  grace  to  thy  people  to  seek  thee, 
that  this  year  may  be  one  of  spiritual  bless- 
ing." So  it  proved.  There  was  a  revival  of 
religion  in  the  winter  and  spring.  Thirty-four 
joined  the  church  during  the  year ;  twenty- 
eight  of  them  on  the  profession  of  their  faith. 
He  calls  it  "a  blessed  and  peaceful  year." 
As  he  records  the  progress  of  the  revival 
from  time  to  time,  his  feelings  of  gratitude  to 
God  break  out  in  the  simple  and  terse  expres- 
sion of  praise  to  God. 

There  was  also  a  revival  of  religion  in  his 
congregation  in  the  year  1853.  We  venture 
to  give  some  of  his  brief  memoranda  of  it,  not 
so  much  because  they  contain  anything  new, 


MEMORIAL.  71 

as  because  they  are  characteristic  of  the  man 
and  bring  the  scene  vividly  before  us.  "  Jan. 
9.  Yery  full — a  work  of  grace  begun."     "  Jan. 

16.  Many  at  inquiry  meeting,  and  P and 

others  rejoicing  in  hope."  "Jan.  28.  Full. 
Lecture  and  inquiry  meeting,  Saturday  even- 
ing. 35  inquirers,  many  converts."  "Jan. 
81.  Lecture-room  fulL  The  work  of  grace 
advancing."  "Feb.  11.  As  full  as  can  be. 
Over  thirty  are  indulging  hope.  And  the 
work  is  advancing  with  power."  "Feb.  18. 
There  are  about  fifty  hoping — a  blessed  time." 
"  Feb.  25.  Meetings  every  P.  M.  at  4,  and 
every  evening  at  7 — forty -five  or  more  hoping. 
Laus  T)eo."  "March  6.  Meetings  at  4^  P.  M., 
which  have  been  held  for  two  months,  sus- 
pended. .  .  .  Between  50  and  60  hoping ; 
several  converted  last  week.  Laus  Deo." 
"  May  1.  Yery  full.  A  very  pleasant  com- 
munion.    23  admitted — 20  on  profession,  2  on 


72  MEMORIAL. 

certificate."  At  the  close  of  the  year  he  sums 
it  up  thus:  "A  blessed  and  peaceful  year. 
Forty -nine  received  to  the  church — thirty- nine 
on  profession  of  their  faith."  We  intend  to 
give  only  salient  points  in  this  sketch,  but  we 
think  that  it  would  be  incomplete  unless  we 
laid  bare  to  some  degree  his  inner  life. 

Mr.  Eowland's  style  of  preaching  changed 
somewhat  while  he  was  at  Honesdale.  His 
discourses  always  eminently  appealed  to  the 
reason,  but  the  style  of  his  sermons  grew  less 
formal  and  more  simple,  bolder,  more  forcible 
and  impressive.  It  was  not  fastidious,  and 
sometimes  perhaps  in  the  haste  of  preparation 
the  minor  graces  of  style  were  sacrificed  to 
energy  of  expression  or  the  supposed  aptness 
of  an  illustration,  but  it  was  that  of  a  man  of 
earnestness  and  reflection,  who  would  instruct, 
convince  and  persuade  in  regard  to  truths  of 
unspeakable  importance. 


MEMORIAL.  73 

He  assumed  at  once  at  Honesdale  a  position 
correspondent  with  the  courage  and  decision 
of  his  character,  and  his  recognized  abiht}^.  A 
man  of  his  decided  opinions,  who  held  them  so 
fearlessly  and  expressed  them  so  freely,  could 
not  be  expected  to  live  entirely  without  con- 
flict. Whatever  might  be  the  hazard  to  him- 
self, he  was  always  determined  to  remove 
everything  which  was  an  obstacle  or  which 
appeared  to  him  to  be  an  obstacle  to  the  great 
object  of  his  life.  He  usually  considered  this 
duty  as  urgent,  and  the  time  and  place  of  per- 
forming it  as  the  present.  He  did  not  there- 
fore hesitate  nor  delay,  but  bravely  met  the 
demand  as  it  arose,  with  the  whole  force  of  his 
nature. 

With  all  his  great  kindness  of  heart  and  his 

conciliatory  spirit,  Mr.  Eowland  did  not  shrink 

from  controversy.     His  discourses  were  almost 

uniformly  on  the  great,  leading  truths  of  Chris- 
4 


74  MEMORIAL. 

tianity,  and  tliougli  expounding  these  trutlis, 
and  defending  and  enforcing  them  by  vigorous 
arguments  drawn  from  reason  and  revehition 
brought  home  to  the  heart  and  the  hfe,  were 
rarely  what  would  be  commonly  called  con- 
troversial. But  while  teaching  and  strenuous- 
ly advocating  the  vital  principles  of  his  faith, 
he  was  ever  ready  to  defend,  and  he  did  de- 
fend, with  ability  and  spirit,  his  standing  and 
rights  as  a  minister  of  the  gospel  against  what 
he  regarded  as  exclusive  claims,  the  system  of 
doctrines  and  the  polity  of  the  Presbyterian 
church,  and  his  own  freedom  of  thought  and 
action ;  and  he  sought  also  to  expose  the 
subtle  forms  of  infidel  error,  which  he  thought 
he  saw  gliding  under  the  innocent  flowers  of 
popular  instruction.  The  deification  of  hu- 
manity is  indeed  but  a  monstrous  form  of  self- 
idolatry. 

A  gentleman,  whom  we  are  happy  to  call  a 


MEMORIAL.  75 

friend — one  whose  position  and  character  give 
weight  to  his  opinions — thus  speaks  more 
fully  of  the  occasion  to  which  we  particularly 
allude :  "  When  Infidelity  made  its  appearance 
in  Honesdale  in  the  garb  of  a  minister  of 
Christ,  widely  renowned  for  his  genius,  his 
learning,  his  wit,  and  his  eloquence,  all  who 
knew  and  loved  the  Truth  must  have  rejoiced 
to  see  one  so  ready  to  meet  the  foe,  and  so 
able  to  resist  him. 

"We  refer  here  to  the  visit  which  Mr.  Theo- 
dore Parker  made  to  Honesdale.  He  went 
there  ostensibly  as  a  lecturer,  but  his  lecture 
was  very  adroitly  filled  even  to  repletion  with 
'Parkerism.'  Whether  Mr.  Parker  violated 
the  proprieties  of  the  time  and  place,  it  is  not 
necessary  for  us  to  decide.  It  is  enough  to 
know  that  he  brought  out  some  of  his  peculiar 
views,  and  in  a  way  well-fitted  to  captivate 
those  who  were  not  '  grounded  and  settled  in 


76  MEMORIAL. 

the  faitli  of  the  gospel/  Dr.  Kowlancl  deemed 
this  an  occasion  in  which  he  was  specially 
called  npon  to  '  stand  up  for  Jesus,'  and  for  his 
gospel,  and  he  accordingly  preached,  as  we 
have  been  assured,  with  marked  ability  and 
success,  a  series  of  sermons,  in  which  he  show- 
ed the  real  nature  and  influence  of  the  princi- 
ples which  Mr.  Parker  has  so  boldly  avowed." 

Mr.  Eowland's  efforts  were  not  confined  to 
the  pulpit.  He  unfolded  and  vindicated  his 
opinions  through  the  public  prints  and  by 
more  formal  publications.  By  these  means 
he  made  a  strong  impress  of  his  character  and 
sentiments  upon  the  community. 

We  could  not  omit  this  feature  of  his  life 
at  Honesdale  without  failing  to  give  a  just 
representation  of  the  period  of  his  ministry 
there.  We  intend,  however,  to  take  only  a 
single  glance  in  that  direction,  and  not  to  enter 
upon  the  particular  points  in  question,  nor  to 


MEMORIAL.  77 

awaken  any  feelings  springing  out  of  any  of 
these  controversies  which  may  better  sleep. 
In  the  heat  of  discussion,  useful  as  it  often  is, 
and  necessary  as  it  may  be  to  the  cause  of 
truth,  some  things  are  almost  always  said  on 
both  sides  which  might  better  have  been  un- 
said. Mr.  Eowland  wielded  a  vigorous  pen, 
and  entered  with  his  whole  heart  into  whatever 
he  undertook. 

His  liberality  of  feeling  may  be  inferred 
from  his  readiness  to  unite  on  equal  terms 
with  members  of  other  denominations  in  plans 
for  doing  good,  from  clergymen  of  other  de- 
nominations being  invited  to  preach  for  him 
and  preaching  for  him  on  his  invitation,  and 
from  the  circumstance  that  for  three  months 
in  the  year  1849  the  pulpit  of  his  churdi  was 
occupied  alternately  by  himself  and  the  pastor 
of  the  Methodist  church  in  Honesdale,  while 
the  edifice  of  that  church  was  heing-  enlaro^ed. 


78  MEMORIAL. 

His  personal  charities  not  small,  and  often  un- 
known even  to  his  own  family  at  the  time  and 
until  after  his  death,  were  not  confined  to  those 
of  his  own  denomination,  but  flowed  freely 
beyond  it. 

We  may  mention  also  as  an  evidence  of 
both  the  prosperity  and  the  liberal  spirit  of  the 
society  of  which  he  was  pastor,  that  in  the 
year  1852,  besides  its  contributions  to  the 
Bible  Society,  it  contributed  over  one  thousand 
dollars  to  benevolent  objects,  of  which  three 
hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars  were  to  Home 
Missions^  and  three  hundred  dollars  to  Foreign 
Missions  ;  and  in  the  year  1854,  similar,  though 
somewhat  larger  sums,  for  Home  and  Foreign 
Missions,  besides  the  sums  contributed  for 
other  objects. 

His  labors  and  influence  extended  far  be- 
yond his  own  congregation.  He  preached  not 
only  in  liis  own  church,  but  in  numerous  places 


MEMORIAL.  79 

in  tlie  vicinity  of  Honesdale,  often  preaching 
in  his  own  church  in  the  morning  and  evening 
of  the  Sabbath,  and  in  one  of  these  neighboring 
phices  in  the  afternoon.  He  advised,  sustained 
and  encouraged  the  Home  Missionary,  employ- 
ed by  the  Presbytery  within  its  bounds. 
Wiien  others  fainted,  he  persevered;  when 
others  were  tired,  he  was  not  exhausted.  His 
hopeful,  unflinching  nature  rose  above  dis- 
couragements. Buoyant,  good-humored  and 
active,  in  the  fulness  of  health  and  energj^, 
with  a  warm  sympathetic  heart,  alwaj- s  zealous 
for  the  extension  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  he 
made  himself  felt  in  all  the  surrounding  region. 
He  was  successful  in  buikling  up  ten  or  twelve 
churches,  besides  his  own,  within  the  bounds 
of  his  Presbytery  ;  we  mean,  by  his  efforts  di- 
rect and  indirect,  with  the  concurrence  and 
assistance  of  others. 

An  ineident  may  be  mentioned  connected 


80  MEMOEIAL. 

with  tliese  labors,  Avliicli  indicates  their  effi- 
ciency, and  illustrates  a  trait  of  Mr.  Kowland's 
character.  Although  frank  and  open  in 
speech,  decided  in  his  opinions,  and  ener- 
getic in  conduct,  Mr.  Rowland  was  wise 
and  moderate  in  his  course  of  action,  a 
safe  adviser  and  efficient  aid.  He  was  once 
informed  by  the  Home  Missionary,  who 
was  accustomed  to  preach  at  different  places 
within  the  boundaries  of  the  Presbytery,  that 
he  was  in  trouble,  that  his  appointments  were 
interfered  with ;  that  he  had  given  notice  of 
an  appointment  to  preach  on  Sabbath  after- 
noon at  a  particular  time  and  place,  and  that 
afterwards-  the  Universalists  had  ^'  put  an  ap- 
pointment on  the  back  of  it"  for  the  same 
hour  and  place.  He  said  that  Mr.  Rowland 
must  preach  for  him;  that  he  was  just  the  man 
for  the  occasion.  Mr.  Rowland  assented,  and, 
after  preaching  at  some  other  place  in  the 


MEMORIAL.  81 

morning,  arrived  at  the  designated  spot  at  the 
time  of  the  afternoon  service.     lie  found  the 
Universalist  clergyman  in  the  j^ulpit,  and  an 
audience  of  Universalists  and  others  already 
assembled.      Proceeding    to   the    pulpit,    Mr. 
Eowland  said,  that  he  believed  the  Presby- 
terians had  an  appointment  there  that  after- 
noon.    The  Universalist  clergyman  said,  No. 
The  Universalists  held  a  meeting  there.     Mr. 
Eowland     replied,     that    the     Presbyterians 
certainly  had  such  an  appointment,  but  the 
other  persisting,  quietly  remarked  :    Then  you 
can  preach,  and  I  will  sit  down  and  listen  to 
you,  and  I  will  afterwards  deliver  my  sermon. 
He  accordingly  took  his  seat  and  heard  the 
Universalist  clergyman's  sermon  ;  then  imme- 
diately ascending  into  the  pulpit,  he  announced 
that  a  sermon  had  been  appointed  by  the  Pres- 
byterians there  for  that  afternoon,   which  he 

would  now  deliver.     He  requested  those  who 
4* 


82  MEMORIAL. 

did  not  wish  to  remain  during  the  delivery  of 
the  sermon  to  retire  at  that  time,  that  there 
might  be  no  interruption.  Two  or  three 
only  went  out. 

He  then  preached  a  discourse  from  the  text : 
"  For  our  God  is  a  consuming  fire."  He  showed 
that  the  punishment  of  the  wicked  was  not 
necessarily  physical,  though  represented  by 
physical  images,  depicted  the  horrors  of  an 
awakened  and  sleepless  conscience,  and  showed 
how  the  conscience  itself  might  be  the  instru- 
ment of  unspeakable  torture,  and  powerfully 
urged  the  scriptural  argument  for  the  eternal 
duration  of  the  punishment  of  the  obstinately 
wicked.  When  ^the  sermon  was  finished,  he 
closed  the  services.  The  Universalist  clergy- 
man, who  had  returned  Mr.  Eowland's  courtesy 
by  remaining  while  he  preached,  offered  him 
his  hand  with  apparent  agitation,  and  said 
that  that  sermon  must  have  been  prepared  for 


MEMORIAL.  83 

the  occasion.  Mr.  Eowland  informed  him 
that  it  had  been  written  some  years  before. 
The  audience  retired,  commenting  on  the  two 
discourses.  Mr.  Kowland's  made  so  deep  an 
impression  as  to  annihilate  Universalism  or 
its  influence  in  the  place,  and  the  Home  Mis- 
sionary had  no  further  trouble  in  that  quarter. 

Mr.  Kowland's  solidity  of  judgment,  and 
his  capacity  for  business  and  knowledge  of  the 
modes  of  doing  it,  as  well  as  his  energy, 
activity,  decision,  determination  and  steady 
perseverance  made  his  services  valuable  in  all 
enterprises  of  this  nature.  His  uprightness 
and  fairness,  his  pleasant  and  amusing  conversa- 
tion, must  have  often  disarmed  prejudice  and 
opposition,  while  his  clear  and  forcible  argu- 
ments produced  conviction. 

Honesdale  was  the  scene,  not  only  of  the 
active,  but  most  of  the  literary  labors  of  Mr. 
Rowland.     In  1850  he  published  an  octavo 


81  MEMORIAL. 

volume  of  about  three  hundred  pages,  "  On 
the  common  maxims  of  Infidelity."  The  title 
is  not  an  attractive  one,  but  the  work  itself  is 
of  much  merit,  and  has  been  highly  approved 
by  competent  judges.  The  late  Dr.  Leonard 
AYoods  of  Andover  said  of  it:  "  There  is  no 
work,  so  far  as  I  know,  which  is  written  on  a 
similar  plan,  or  which  does  so  briefly  and  effec- 
tually undermine  and  demolish  the  super- 
structure of  modern  infidelity.  The  author 
deserves  the  thanks  of  the  public  for  the 
labor  he  has  bestowed  on  so  difficult  a  subject, 
and  for  writing  a  book  containing  in  three  hun- 
dred pages  so  much  pertinent  thought,  and  so 
much  conclusive  argument,  which  is  all  the 
better  for  being  so  condensed."  The  contents  of 
the  book  had  been  the  subject  of  meditation  and 
study  to  Mr.  Kowland  for  many  years.  It  dis- 
cusses the  common  maxims  of  worldly  men, 
lavs  bare  their  infidel  character,  and  refutes 


MEMORIAL.  85 

them  with  much  practical  sense  and  vigor  of 
argument. 

In  1851  he  published  that  well-known  little 
work,  a  duodecimo  volume  of  one  hundred 
and  eighty  pages,  bearing  the  title  of  "  The 
Path  of  Life."     It  grew  out  of  his  own  pastoral 
experience,  and  was  especially  intended  to  lead 
awakened  souls,  inquiring  after  truth,  to  the 
Saviour  and  into  the  path  of  Life.     Its  great 
simplicity,  its  earnest,  friendly  expostulations, 
its  weighty  and  appropriate  truths,  its  direct, 
plain  and  scriptural  reasonings,  and  its  practical 
wisdom  and  good  sense,  have  given  it  wide 
circulation    and   great   usefulness.     A  second 
and  revised  edition  of  this  little  volume,  with 
some  illustrative  facts  from  his  own  experience 
as  a  pastor,  was  soon  published.  Mr.  Eowland, 
with  great   candor  and   good-humor,    and   a 
remarkable  freedom    from  sensitiveness   and 
pride,  sought  and  accepted  the  aid  of  friendly 


86  MEMORIAL. 

criticism  in  respect  to  his  books,  both  before 
and  after  they  passed  through  the  press.  In- 
telhgence  has  been  constantly  coming  from 
every  quarter  of  the  country,  of  the  useful- 
ness of  this  volume,  and  of  the  blessing  of 
God  that  has  attended  the  perusal  of  its  pages. 
The  opening  chapter,  "  A  Call  to  the  Wanderer," 
is  one  of  the  most  impressive  and  striking 
appeals  in  the  language. 

In  1851  he  published  another  small  duo- 
decimo work,  with  the  rather  quaint  title  of 
"  Light  in  a  Dark  Alley."  It  is  designed  to 
remove  special  difficulties  on  the  subject  of 
religion,  and  the  argument  is  conducted  with 
much  simplicity  and  force. 

In  1854  he  published  a  larger  work,  entitled 
''  The  Way  of  Peace."  It  contains  instructions 
for  the  Christian  course,  and  is  a  plain,  sensible 
and  judicious  treatise  on  the  Christian  life  and 
duties.     "  The  Path  of  Life"  leads  the  sinner 


MEMORIAL.  87 

to  the  Saviour ;  "  The  Way  of  Peace"  conducts 
the  Christian  to  heaven. 

Many  letters  were  received  by  Dr.  Rowland, 
from  different  parts  of  the  country,  which  bore 
testimony  to  the  good  these  works  had  done 
and  were  doing.  While  he  was  lying  on  the 
bed  of  death  at  Boston,  his  heart  was  glad- 
dened by  the  intelligence  sent  to  him  from 
central  ISTew  York,  of  the  happy  influence 
exerted  by  the  "  Path  of  Life"  upon  one  of 
the  Presbyterian  churches  of  that  region.  A 
gentleman  who  resided  in  Wilmington,  in  the 
state  of  Delaware,  wrote  to  him  : 

"I  have  just  finished  the  perusal  of  the 
Wa2/  of  Peace,  and  I  wish  I  could  convey  in 
language  the  emotions  of  gratitude  I  feel  to- 
wards you  for  writing  such  a  book.  I  have 
been  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church 
four  years,  and  while  I  can  testify  by  a  happy 
experience  that  His  service  is  a  rich  reward, 


88  MEMORIAL. 

yet  I  often  mourn  on  account  of  the  clouds 
and  darkness  that  overshadow  my  way  ;  and, 
indeed,  I  have  had  little  of  that  peace  of 
which  you  speak.  I  really  feel  that  your  book 
was  written  for  me,  and  hi  reading  it  have 
often  asked  myself  the  question — '  How  could 
he  know  my  heart  so  well  ?'  I  pray  that  I  may 
be  led  to  act  upon  the  truth  so  clearly  taught, 
and  would  fondly  hope  that  those  who,  like 
myself,  are  halting  in  the  way,  seeking,  desir- 
ing to  know  more,  yet  enjoying  little,  could 
meet  with  your  directions,  and  be  led  by  the 
Spirit  of  all  grace  into  that  perfect  way." 

Another  gentleman  wrote  to  him  from  Bos- 
ton:— "  Most  happily,  a  few  days  since  I  met  a 
little  work,  written  by  you,  called  Light  in  a 
Dark  Alley.  This  little  volume  has,  of  a 
truth,  closely  met  my  state,  and  touched  me 
very  nearly ;  and  I  cannot  but  desire  to  ex- 
press to  you  my  grateful  sense  and  appreciation 


MEMOEIAL.  «9 

of  its  work.  Id  my  ^^outli  I  was  brought  up 
under  tlie  doctrines  of  '  the  Trinity/  But  in 
after  years  I  passed  from  them,  to  repose 
under  the  intellectual  glare  of  ITnitarianism. 
Here,  with  my  hearty  conscience,  and  spiritual 
life  pushed  aside,  thinking  that  in  the  dis- 
charge of  moral  duties  I  was  performing  all 
duties,  I  lulled  myself  into  a  perfect  security, 
from  which  at  last  I  was  startled.  Unitarianism 
starved  me;  and  although  I  heard  its  most 
eloquent  teachers,  yet  daily  I  found  my  spirit- 
ual life  shrivelling  up  within  me ;  for  though 
hungry  for  bread,  they  gave  me  only  stones.  At 
a  more  mature  period  of  my  life,  I  felt  that  my 
salvation  depended  on  my  escape  from  these 
deadening  doctrines.  With  my  wife  I  attached 
myself  to  the  "iN'ew  Church,"  or  Swedenbor- 
gian  society  in  this  city  (Boston).  They  spoke 
to  me  of  the  '  Divinity  of  Christ,' — that  He  was 
the  'Lord   in   Divine  Humanity,' — that  true 


90  MEMORIAL. 

life  depended  on  'Loving  our  neighbor  as 
ourselves,'  and  '  Putting  away  Evils  as  Sins.' 
I  gathered  all  books  bearing  on  their  doctrines 
which  were  obtainable,  and  for  some  three  years 
have  been  a  serious,  and  I  humbly  trust,  an 
improved  reader.  But  the  •  New  Church'  is 
dead^  and  therefore  its  teachings  cannot  infuse 
life.  When  the  Saviour  was  on  earth,  he 
taught  men  to  do  something ;  if  to  be  healed, 
they  were  to  '  stretch  out  their  hand,' — to  '  go 
wash.'  The  Unitarians  fed  my  intellect,  but 
hungered  my  soul.  The  Swedenborgians  fill 
me  to  repletion  with  doctrines,  but  give  me  no 
guidance  to  life ;  they  do  not  give  what  my 
spirit  restlessly  cries  for.  As  I  before  said, 
your  little  book  touched  we  very  nearly ;  so 
that  it  warmed  my  heart,  and  of  a  truth  Light 
streamed  into  a  Dark  Alley."  Both  of  these 
writers  were  strangers  to  Dr.  Eowland,  and 
evidently   wrote    from   the    fulness  of   their 


MEMORIAL.  91 

hearts,  and  from  a  deep  sense  of  the  benefits 
which  they  had  received  from  the  perusal  of 
these  works. 

Besides  these  works,  he  published  a  small 
tract  on  Christian  baptism,  and  several  ser- 
mons  in  pamphlet  form,*  in  addition  to  those 

^  Only  two  of  Mr.  Rowland's  sermons  were  published, 
we  believe,  while  he  resided  in  New  York, — one  delivered  in 
1840,  on  the  anniversary  of  our  national  independence,  and 
another,  a  funeral  sermon  on  the  death  of  Rev.  David  R. 
Downer,  1841.  "While  he  was  at  Honesdale,  sermons  by 
him  on  the  following  subjects  were  published,  in  pamphlet 
form  :  "  The  distinctive  Features  of  Presbyterianism  as  ex- 
hibited in  the  Confession  of  Faith,"  in  1844;  '-The  Char- 
acteristics of  a  Pious  Woman's  Heart :  a  sermon  preached 
at  the  dedication  of  the  lecture-room  of  the  Presbyterian 
church,  Honesdale,  Pa.,"  in  1848  ;  "The  Murderer  and  his 
Fate"  in  the  same  year ;  "  Christian  Liberty,  or  the  elements 
of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  growing  out  of  the  doctrine  of 
justification  by  faith  in  contrast  with  civil  and  religious  des- 
potism, originating  in  the  high  pretensions  of  prelacy,"  in 
1850  ;  "  The  True  Principle  of  Christian  Unity"  in  the  same 
year.  "  The  Excellency  of  our  Christian  Polity,  a  discourse 
delivered  before  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  in 
Bloomfield,  New  Jersey,''  and  published  by  direction  of  the 
Synod,  in  1851.     In  1854  he  also  published  an  essay  which 


92  MEMORIAL. 

published  in  the  newspapers.  He  wrote  also 
frequently  for  the  public  prints.  He  was  of 
opinion  that  the  newspaper-press  was  too 
powerful  an  instrument  of  influence  and  of 
doing  good  to  be  neglected.  He  sought  by 
means  of  it  to  enlarge  the  circle  of  his  power, 
and  to  spread  around  him  an  atmosphere  con- 
genial with  his  own  feelings  and  opinions. 

None  of  these  labors  quelled  his  spirits  or 
diminished  the  frankness  and  cheerfulness  of 
his  disposition.  His  success  rather  inspirited 
and  emboldened  him.  Study  never  made  him 
less  companionable.  The  country  around 
Honesdale  was  tempting  for  his  favorite  sport, 
and  for  relief  he  would  occasionally  wander 
with  his  hook  and  fly  through  "the  valleys 

originally  appeared  in  the  newspapers,  on  "  The  Church  and 
Slavery,  or  the  relations  of  the  churches  to  slavery  under  the 
Constitution  ;  considered  in  reference  to  the  constitutionality 
of  the  action  of  the  General  Assembly  at  Buffalo,  A.  D. 
1853." 


MEMORIAL.  93 

that  run  among  the  hills,"  along  the  mountain 
stream,  or  the  ponds  that  gather  the  crystal 
bounty  of  heaven  to  reflect  its  image.  He 
entered  with  enthusiasm  into  the  amusement, 
and  counted  up  his  prizes  on  a  good  day  with 
true  fisherman's  pride. 

We  wish  that  we  could  give  a  correct  im- 
pression of  this  eventful  period  of  his  life. 
The  following  extract  will  show  how  the  gene- 
ral aspect  of  things  around  him,  struck  a 
gentleman  of  the  same  profession  and  of  high 
standing  in  it.  "At  one  time,  when  I  was  at 
Honesdale,  I  visited  him  at  his  residence,  and 
could  not  but  admire  the  many  marks  of  his  ac- 
tivity and  usefulness,  both  in  his  congregation, 
and  among  the  people  generally.  He  seemed 
to  be  acquainted  with  every  body,  rich  and  poor, 
old  and  young,  on  terms  of  cordial  friendship 
with  all,  and  ready  to  promote  their  best 
interests  in  every  way."     His  favorite  horse 


94  MEMOKIAL. 

Kate,  wlien  not  in  use  by  himself,  stood  all 
day  at  the  door  ready  for  service.  During  his 
residence  at  Honesdale,  to  the  great  grief  of 
the  whole  family  she  was  stolen.  After  trying 
in  vain  the  usual  methods,  he  took  a  novel  one 
to  recover  her.  He  wrote  under  his  own  sig- 
nature to  the  editor  of  one  of  the  New  Jersey 
newspapers  a  humorous  letter,  giving  an  ac- 
count of  his  loss,  and  an  amusing  and  exact 
description  of  Kate,  and  her  qualities  and 
habits.  The  letter  was  republished,  and  circu- 
lated far  and  wide  in  the  public  prints,  and 
gave  its  author  a  new  celebrity. 

This  humorous  letter  was  the  means  of  re- 
covering the  cherished  companion  of  his  labors. 
It  met  the  eye  of  the  purchaser,  living  at  some 
distant  place  in  New  Jersey,  who  recognized 
the  stolen  animal  in  his  own  barn  from  the 
graphic  and  amusing  description  given  of  her. 
He  wrote  to  Mr.  Kowland,  and   Kate  soon  re- 


MEMORIAL.  95 

turned,  to   resume   her  round   of   ministerial 
dut}^ 

In  July,  1854,  he  received  a  unanimous  call 
to  the  Green  Hill  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Philadelphia,  and  he  soon  after  declined  it. 
In  the  same  year  Union  College  conferred  on 
him  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity.  On  the 
twenty-first  of  October,  1855,  at  the  close  of 
the  session  of  the  Synod  of  JSTew  York  and 
New  Jersey,  which  met  at  the  city  of  New 
York,  he  preached  at  Park  Church,  Newark, 
and  on  the  second  of  November  in  that 
year  the  society  of  that  church  voted  unani- 
mously to  give  him  a  call.  This  call  he 
thought  it  his  duty  to  accept.  His  congrega- 
tion in  Honesdale  by  a  unanimous  vote  re- 
quested him  to  reconsider  his  determination. 
But  further  reflection  not  changing  his  pur- 
pose, he  closed  his  ministry  at  Honesdale  on 
the  sixteenth  of  December,  1855.     With  strong 


96  MEMORIAL. 

expressions  on  the  part  of  his  church  of  un- 
feigned gratitude  to  God  for  the  experience  of 
the  last  twelve  years  and  of  undiminished  con- 
fidence in  him,  and  with  many  tokens  of 
affection  and  regard  to  himself  and  family,  he 
says,  "  in  the  fear  and  blessing  of  God  we  left " 
Honesdale. 

We  now  approach  the  scene  of  his  last  la- 
bors. The  thought  saddens  us,  and  we  must 
be  brief  He  was  strongly  attached  to  the 
place  and  the  people  of  Honesdale,  and  remain- 
ed so  during  his  life.  He  revisited  that  place 
with  great  pleasure.  Thus  in  the  summer  of 
1857  he  notes  that  with  some  members  of  his 
family  he  had  spent  three  Sabbaths  there, 
"  days  long  to  be  remembered."  His  attach- 
ment was  warmly  returned  by  his  people,  and 
when  the  call  to  Newark  was  taken  by  him 
into  serious  and  favorable  consideration,  his 
heart  was  ''oppressed"  with  the  thought  of 


MEMORIAL.  97 

leaving  those  whom  he  loved.  And  when,  as 
the  danger  of  his  doing  so  became  known, 
solicitations  and  expressions  of  affection  poured 
in  upon  him  from  his  congregation,  it  was  al- 
most too  much  for  a  man  of  his  warm  heart  to 
resist. ,  But  the  deep  sense  of  duty  sustained 
him  in  the  struggle,  and  finally  triumphed. 
"I  see,"  he  said,  "  what  I  think  is  a  field  ap- 
propriate for  me,  and  where  I  may  be  useful." 
Dr.  Eowland  began  his  regular  labors  at 
Park  Church,  Newark,  on  the  twenty- third 
day  of  December,  1855,  and  was  installed  as 
the  minister  of  that  church  on  the  twenty-third 
day  of  January,  1856.  His  ministry  of  more 
than  three  years  and  a  half  at  that  place  was 
not  marked  by  striking  events,  but  we  believe 
that  all  who  know  the  facts  and  are  competent 
to  judge  of  them,  think  that  he  did  a  great  work 
there.     At  tlie  time  of  his  settlement  the  church 

was   small,   and  before  his  call  its  elements, 
5 


98  MEMORIAL. 

happily  united  in  himself  and  harmonized  by 
his  judicious  course  of  action,  had  been  dis- 
united, and  to  some  extent  in  conflict.     The 
society  itself  was  laboring  under   difficulties 
which,  unless  speedily  remedied,    threatened 
as  some  thought  to  issue  in  serious  embarrass- 
ments.    But  Dr.  Eowland  saw  here  an  impor- 
tant point  to  be  maintained,  and  a  church  to  be 
built  u.p.     The  aspect  of  things  would  have 
appeared  discouraging  to  one  of  less  resolute 
spirit  than  himself,  or  less  assured  by  expe- 
rience of  his  own  powers  and  resources,  or  less 
confiding  in  the  efficacy  of  tbe  divine  word, 
accompanied  by  the  influences  of  the  divine 
Spirit.     He  sought  not  repose,  he  pleaded  not 
weariness  from  past  labors,  he  despised  inac- 
tion.    He  held  himself  ''at  the  service  of  the 
church,"  and  like  a  good  and  tried  soldier  con- 
sidered the  place  where  the   heaviest  blows 
were  needed  as  appropriate  for  him. 


MEMORIAL.  99 

At  Honesdale  he  was  pleasantly  situated, 
and  lie  had  a  wide  and  commanding  influence. 
But  in  the  successive  revivals  there  a  large 
part  of  the  youth  and  other  members  of  his 
congregation  had  been  brought  into  the  church. ; 
and  in  a  new  and  untried  field  he  hoped  that 
he  might  do  more  good  in  his  Master's  service 
than  he  could  in  one  which  he  had  already 
reaped. 

"We  are  indebted  to  a  member  of  his  church 
at  Newark  for  the  following  account  of  his 
ministerial  labors  while  he  was  pastor  of  that 
church : 

""When  Dr.  Rowland  came  to  Park  Church, 
Newark,  the  congregation  was  small,  and  the 
general  condition  of  the  church  such  as  to 
create  distrust  and  doubt  rather  than  the  cer- 
tainty of  success.  There  was  much  to  dis- 
courage any  one  who  was  not  fully  prepared 
to  meet  difficulties.      At  the  same  time  the 


100  MEMORIAL. 

point  was  an  important  one,  and  the  location 
and  the  increasing  demand  for  accommodation 
in  tlie  Presbyterian  cliurclies  in  Kewark  pre- 
sented inducements  to  one  who  was  willing  to 
make  the  sacrifice  necessary  to  place  the 
church  in  a  firm  and  substantial  position. 

"Dr.  Eovvland  had  received  a  u.nanimous 
call.  The  point  of  duty  had  been  fully  set- 
tled by  him,  the  importance  of  the  work  to 
be  accomplished  being  the  main  reason  of  his 
accepting  the  call.  He  possessed  all  the  fire 
and  energy  of  youth,  with  the  experience  of 
age,  and  a  trustful  reliance  upon  the  great 
Head  of  the  church  for  that  blessing,  without 
which  human  instrumentalities  must  fail.  The 
work  to  be  performed  was  similar  to  that 
attending  a  new  enterprise;  its  elements  re- 
quired harmonizing  and  strengthening.  He 
turned  his  earnest  efforts  to  this  work  ;  infused 
his  own  spirit  into  those  with  whom  he  came 


MEMOEIAL.  101 

in  contact,  and  new  vigor  was  imparted  to 
every  department  of  the  cliurcli.  The  congre- 
gation increased,  and  many  members  were 
added  to  the  church  both  by  profession  and  by 
certificate  from  other  churches. 

"  He  felt  the  need  of  a  suitable  place  for  the 
ordinary  weekly  meetings,  and  as  no  lecture- 
room  had  been  provided,  a  room  was  procured 
for  this  purpose,  and  plans  devised  to  secure 
the  necessary  funds  for  building  a  lecture- 
room.  The  people  responded  to  the  call  for 
that  object.  The  funds  were  raised  and  a  neat 
building  erected  adjoining  the  church.  The 
church  was  at  the  same  time  beautifully 
frescoed. 

"These  evidences  of  progress  and  enterprise 
were  pleasing  to  Dr.  Eowland ;  but  while  he 
valued  these  evidences  of  prosperity  and  in- 
creased faciHties  for  usefulness,  they  seemed 
only  to  increase  his  efforts  and  anxieties  for 


102  MEMORIAL. 

that  higher  and  truer  development  in  his 
people  of  spiritual  growth.  He  visited  his 
people,  calling  upon  them  at  their  homes  and 
at  their  places  of  business,  and  embracing 
every  opportunity  to  impress  upon  men  the 
one  great  and  important  duty  of  attending  to 
their  spiritual  interests.  With  him  religion 
was  the  one  great  duty  of  daily  life,  and  as 
properly  introduced  into  the  workshop  or 
counting-room  as  into  the  parlor  or  the  pulpit. 
He  clothed  religion  in  no  austere  or  formal 
garb,  but  made  it  rather  the  one  great  source 
of  joy  and  cheerful  hope. 

"As  an  admirer  of  the  mechanic  arts  he 
visited  the  factories,  taking  the  opportunity  to 
turn  the  attention  of  men  to  their  spiritual 
welfare.  Few  men  possess  the  power  which 
he  exhibited  of  gaining  the  confidence  of 
others.  Many  who  formed  their  acquaintance 
with  him  in  the  workshops  were  drawn  to  hear 


MEMORIAL.  103 

him  preach.  Some,  who  had  not  attended 
divine  service  for  years,  were  induced  to  attend 
it  regularly  v/ith  their  families.  He  not  only 
became  acquainted  with  the  people  himself, 
but  he  used  every  means  to  bring  them  to- 
gether socially  that  they  might  become  ac- 
quainted with  each  other,  removing  the  dis- 
tance which  so  often  exists  among  the  members 
of  our  churches,  and  establishing  those  strong 
bonds  of  union  and  friendship  which  give 
power  and  vigor  to  a  people. 

*'  While  he  attended  with  care  to  these  duties, 
he  did  not  neglect  his  preparation  for  the  pul- 
pit. He  aimed  not  at  the  gilding  or  trappings 
of  oratory.  It  was  not  the  ear,  but  the  un- 
derstanding and  heart  of  his  hearers  that  he 
wished  to  reach,  and  the  seed  sown  by  his  hand 
was  blessed  to  the  conversion  of  men.  A 
large  number  of  members  was  added  to  the 
church,  by  profession  of  faith  and  by  certificate, 


104  MEMOEIAL. 

during  liis  ministry  of  little  more  than  tliree 
years. 

*'  He  attaclied  great  importance  to  the  Sab- 
bath-school, believing  it  to  be  the  main  source 
of  strength  to  the  church — that  here  the 
foundation  was  laid — that  here  the  church  was 
to  look  for  its  growth,  and  that  this  institution 
should  receive  the  earnest  support  of  the  pas- 
tor. No  teacher  was  more  regular  in  attend- 
ance upon  the  Sabbath-school  than  he,  except 
when  he  was  supplying  some  pulpit  beside  his 
own,  or  was  called  away  by  pastoral  duties. 
For  teachers  and  for  scholars  he  had  some  kind 
word  of  encouragement,  and  the  attachments 
here  formed  for  him  by  the  children  of  his 
charge,  caused  tears  and  sorrow  for  his  loss. 
The  school  increased  rapidly,  and  in  two  years 
it  had  more  than  quadrupled  in  numbers.  In 
the  midst  of  his  labors,  when  the  hearts  of  his 
people  were  fixed  upon  him,  when  evidences 


MEMORIAL.  105 

of  his  usefulness  were  seen  on  every  hand,  he 
has  been  stricken  down  hj  disease,  and  death 
has  severed  the  bond  of  union  between  him 
and  his  people.  Long  will  his  name  and 
memory  be  cherished." 

Few  particulars  need  to  be  added.  His 
labors  were  unwearied,  and,  what  at  the  time 
was  wholly  unsuspected,  beyond  his  strength. 
He  was  present  with  an  active  and  inspiring 
interest  in  every  movement  connected  with  the 
prosperity  of  his  church  and  society.  He 
preached  almost  uniformly  twice  on  the  Sab- 
bath, rarely  exchanged,  and  had  little  aid  in 
the  pulpit.  He  liked  to  preach.  If  it  Avas  a 
toil,  it  was  yet  a  pleasure  to  him  to  unfold  the 
truths  of  the  Bible,  and  recommend  them  to 
the  reason,  the  conscience,  and  the  hearts  of 
intelligent  hearers.  Here,  as  well  as  at  Hones- 
dale,  without  descending  from  the  high  ground 

of  a  spiritual  religion,  he  readily  seized  upon 
5* 


106  MEMORIAL. 

local  or  passing  topics  and  turned  them  to  a 
religious  use.  He  not  only  preached  in  the 
morning  and  evening  of  the  Sabbath,  attended 
the  Sabbath-school  regularly  on  the  Sabbath 
afternoon,  and  the  weekly  lecture  and  prayer- 
meetings,  but  even  the  rehearsals  of  the  choir, 
and  took  a  constant  and  effective  interest,  in 
which  zeal  was  happily  mingled  with  candor 
and  good-humor,  in  the  temporal  as  well  as 
spiritual  affairs  of  the  society. 

A  great  and  permanent  change  ensued, 
and  a  steady  growth  of  both  the  church  and 
congregation.  In  the  first  year  of  his  minis- 
try, or  1856,  thirty-five  members  were  added 
to  the  church,  and  before  the  close  of  the  third 
year,  a  large  number  of  new  members  had  joined 
it,  composed  of  nearly  equal  numbers  received 
on  letter  or  certificate  from  other  churches,  and 
on  the  profession  of  their  faith.  In  the  second 
year  of  his   ministry  the   congregation,    the 


MEMORIAL 


107 


growth  of  whicli  was  in  a  still  greater  proportion 
than  that  of  the  church,  had  become  sufficiently 
strong  and  united  to  build  a  conference  house  or 
lecture-room,  and  to  repair  and  fresco  their  fine 
large  church,  as  already  stated,  at  an  expense  of 
several  thousand  dollars.  It  was  pleasant  and 
almost  amusing  to  see  the  daily,  earnest  interest 
with  which  he  watched  the  progress  of  the  im- 
provement of  the  church,  and  urged  it  towards 
completion. 

At  the  close  of  that  year  he  notes  in  his 
sermon-book,  that  he  stops  a  course  of  sermons, 
which  he  had  been  preaching,  "to  introduce 
more  practical  and  experimental  preaching  in 
consequence  of  a  general  seriousness,"  and  then, 
after  mentioning  these  marks  of  outward  pros- 
perity, that  ^'  the  church  has  been  painted,  a 
lecture-room  built,  and  the  congregation  greatly 
increased  during  the  last  year,"  he  glances  up- 


103  MEMORIAL. 

ward  and  drops  the  ejaculation,  "  Come,  IIolj 
Spirit,  Heavenlj^  Dove." 

We  cannot  doubt  that  this  petition  arose 
from  the  depths  of  a  softened  and  longing 
heart,  more  solemn  from  recent  afflictions,  and 
that  a  record  of  it  was  made  in  heaven  as  well 
as  on  earth. 

In  the  f  )llowing  year  there  was  a  great  and 
general  attention  to  the  subject  of  religion  in 
his  congregation,  as  there  was  in  a  very  largo 
number  of  the  churches  throughout  the  coun- 
try. This  was  to  Dr.  Eowland  an  arduous, 
and  to  hi  m  and  many  of  those  under  his  charge, 
a  memorable  year.  On  the  fourteenth  of  March, 
1858,  twenty-nine  were  admitted  to  the  church, 
twenty-two  of  them  on  the  profession  of  their 
faith;  on  the  second  of  May,  thirteen  were 
admitted,  twelve  of  them  on  the  profession  of 
their  faith,  and  during  that  year  in  all  fifty-five, 
eleven  of  them  on  certificate  from  other  church- 


MEMORIAL.  109 

es,  and  forty-four  on  the  profession  of  their  faith. 
These  details  may  not  be  necessary,  but  they 
verify  and  enforce  the  general  statements  which 
have  been  made.  If  to  win  souls  be  the  prime 
object  of  the  Christian  ministry,  it  can  hardly 
be  inappropriate  in  a  memorial  of  a  minister  of 
the  gospel  that  the  issue  of  his  labors  in  that 
respect  should  be  recorded. 

Near  the  close  of  the  previous  year  an  event 
occurred  which  made  a  deep  impression  on  the 
mind  of  Dr.  Kowland.  This  was  the  death  of 
his  brother-in-law,  the  Eev.  Abraham  Polhe- 
mus,  D.  D.,  pastor  of  the  North  Dutch  Church 
in  Newark,  "  w^ho,"  to  use  Dr.  Kowland's  terse 
language,  "died  28th  October,  1857,  at  Dr. 
Forsyth's,  Newburgh,  in  triumph."  Taken 
away  as  he  was  in  the  fulness  of  vigorous 
manhood,  when  long  years  of  earthly  happi- 
ness and  usefulness  appeared  to  be  in  store  for 
him,  when  he  had  but  lately  entered  upon  his 


110  MEMORIAL. 

duties  as  pastor  of  a  neighboring  church,  and 
had  come  to  reside  at  Kewark,  his  death  spoke 
powerfully  to  Dr.  Eowland's  heart.  He  seemed 
to  have  a  new  sense  of  the  vanity  of  life  and 
of  the  trivial  nature  of  its  ordinary  pursuits, 
and  to  him  who  pens  these  lines  then  pre- 
dicted that  his  own  wife  would  be  a  widow,  as 
if  he  already  felt  the  solemn  shadow  of  that 
coming  and  near  event. 

But  his  energy  and  capacity  for  labor,  and 
cheerful  alacrity  in  the  performance  of  duty 
still  continued.  And  he  was  cheered  and 
gladdened  by  seeing  the  abundant  fruits  of  his 
labors,  and  by  the  proofs  of  attachment  re- 
ceived from  the  members  of  his  congregation 
by  himself  and  his  family.  A  pleasing  evi- 
dence of  this  attachment  was  given  in  the 
year  previous  to  his  death.  Sunday,  the  15th 
of  August  in  that  year,  was  the  anniversary  of 
his  marriage.     On  the  folio wiag  evening  his 


MEMORIAL.  HI 

congregation  met  in  a  surprise-party  at  his 
house,  and  celebrated  with  himself  and  his 
wife  their  silver  wedding.  An  address  was 
made  to  Dr.  Rowland,  to  which  he  replied,  a 
purse  of  five  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  was 
presented  to  him,  and  an  appropriate  original 
poem,  written  for  the  occasion,  was  read.  An 
entertainment  was  also  provided,  and  a  scene  of 
enjoyment  displayed,  not  soon  to  be  forgotten. 
The  assurance  given  by  this  manifestation  of 
affectionate  regard,  was  particularly  grateful  to 
Dr.  Rowland's  heart  and  memory.  The  occa- 
sion was  indeed  one  in  itself  to  inspire  unusu- 
al pleasure  and  gratitude.  Since  he  had  been 
married,  years  had  rolled  away,  children  had 
gathered  around  his  table  and  hearth  to  add 
to  his  happiness,  and  of  the  silver-chain 
which  was  now  clasped,  not  a  link  had  ever 
been  broken.  The  dear  family  circle,  of  which 
himself  and  his  wife  were  the  beloved  centre, 


112  MEMORIAL. 

liad  never  been  invaded  by  death,  hardly  by 
sickness,  and  he  had  had  large  experience,  as 
those  familiar  with  his  well  regulated  home  well 
know,  of  the  sacred  joys  of  domestic  life. 

We  think  that  we  should  not  give  a  just 
idea  of  the  services  of  Dr.  Eowlaud,  if  we 
represented  them  as  confined  to  his  own  par- 
ticular  congregation  or  to  the  community  in 
which  he  lived,  or  even  in  addition  to  the  val- 
uable contributions  made  by  him  to  our  relig- 
ious literature.  His  church  was  an  integral 
part  of  a  wide-sproad  and  powerful  denomina- 
tion, in  whose  councils  and  affairs  and  among 
whose  ministers  and  members  we  believe  he 
had  no  insignificant  weight  and  influence.*  He 
was  often  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly 
of  the  Presbyterian  church,  and  in  May,  1858, 
at  the  meeting  of  that  body  at  Chicago,  he  was 
the  chairman  of  its  judiciary  committee, — a 
fact  which   shows   his   high  standing  among 


MEMORIAL.  113 

liis  brethren,  and  the  confidence  whicli  was 
placed  in  his  ability  and  judgment.  He  had 
indeed  made  the  constitution,  discipline,  sys- 
tem of  doctrine  and  general  organization  of 
the  Presb34erian  church  a  subject  of  particular 
attention  and  study,  and  he  thought  that  he 
understood  them.  If  we  may  venture  such  an 
opinion,  his  success  in  his  pastoral  relations 
was  promoted  in  no  slight  degree  by  his  accu- 
rate knowledge  of  the  proper  working  of  this 
system,  and  its  limitations  of  power  and  of 
duty.  In  the  Presbytery  to  which  he  be- 
longed, he  was  distinguished,  if  w^e  are  not 
misinformed,  by  the  ardor  of  his  zeal  for  the 
extension  of  the  privileges  of  the  gospel  and 
the  king*lom  of  Christ  among  men.  That 
seemed  to  be  the  burden  of  his  heart.  He  v;as 
not  only  zealous,  he  was  also  practical  and  efS.- 
cient  in  both  devising  and  executing ;  and  in 


114  MEMORIAL. 

carrying  out  the  plans  adopted,  he  took  a  de- 
voted and  active  part. 

During  his  short  residence  in  the  city  of 
Newark,  he  gained  greatly  upon  the  feelings 
and  affections  of  the  community.  As  his 
character  became  known  and  understood,  it 
was  appreciated.  His  manliness  and  energy, 
his  plainness  and  directness,  might  be  expected 
to  suit  a  people  so  prominent  for  the  successful 
prosecution  of  the  ingenious  arts  of  mechan- 
ical industry.  He  soon  became  widely  known. 
His  social,  genial  spirit,  his  kindness  of  heart 
even  to  the  humblest  and  youngest — he  had  a 
pleasant  word  for  everybody, — his  unhesitating 
frankness  and  contagious  good-humor,  his  in- 
terest in  all  the  affairs  of  life,  all  the  forms  of 
industry  and  movements  of  society,  his  forget- 
fulness  of  adventitious  advantages  and  readi- 
ness to  meet  all  cordially  on  the  common 
ground  of  thought  and  feeling,   his   evident 


MEMORIAL.  115 

simplicity  and  sincerity,  won  for  him  many 
friends,  and  with  his  uprightness,  activity,  con- 
stancy, and  earnestness  of  purpose,  his  solid  in- 
tellectual qualities  and  Christian  worth  made  a 
deep,  wide  and  increasing  impression.  We 
shall  not  attempt  to  notice  all  the  directions  in 
which  the  rays  of  his  influence  were  benignly 
felt.  Those  upon  whom  they  immediately  fell, 
and  who  rejoiced  in  their  light,  can  best  speak, 
not  only  of  their  warmth  and  brightness,  but 
of  the  many  ways  in  which  they  reached  the 
heart. 

He  preached  sermons  on  special  occasions, 
and  series  of  sermons  on  special  topics  to  large 
audiences.  He  w^'ote  much  for  the  Newark 
newspapers.  "  He  was  fond  of  writing,  and 
fe\7  men  handled  the  pen  with  more  ease, 
whether  in  the  composition  of  a  sermon  or  in 
the  lighter  articles  in  which  he  described  some 
humorous  story,  or  depicted — never  in  an  un- 


116  MEMORIAL. 

kindly  spirit — some  of  the  social  foibles  of  the 
day.  His  contributions  to  the  Newark  papers 
of  various  kinds  and  on  various  topics,  if  col- 
lected, would  make  a  considerable  volume." 
Some  of  these  contributions  were  on  the  moral 
questions  of  the  day,  on  which  he  held  decided 
though  not  extreme  opinions,  expressed  with- 
out hesitation  or  reserve.  The  pressure  of  his 
engagements  left  him  little  leisure  for  the  com- 
position or  publication  of  new  books.  But 
amid  his  numerous  occupations,  he  made  con- 
siderable progress  in  the  preparation  of  a  new 
edition  of  one  of  his  works,  with  special  refer- 
ence to  the  recent  forms  assumed  by  infidel- 
ity in  this  country.  If  we  are  not  mis- 
taken he  also  projected  a  new  work,  shadowed 
forth  and  to  a  considerable  extent  embodied  in 
a  series  of  sermons  delivered  by  him,  on  a  sub- 
ject deeply  interesting  to  the  Christian  heart. 
Death,  however,  that  solemn  event  which  so 


MEMORIAL.  117 

frequently  defeats  the  purposes  and  hopes  of 
man,  however  wisely  formed  or  apparently 
sure  of  fulfilment,  prevented  the  realization  of 
his. 

His  constant  and  anxious  labors,  especially 
to  build  up  his  church  and  to  fill  and  enlarge 
his  sphere  of  usefulness,  began  to  make  a  visi- 
ble impression  on  his  excellent  health  and  con- 
stitution, whose  powers  of  resistance  may  well 
be  supposed  to  have  been  already  weakened 
by  a  laborious  and  earnest  life.  In  looking 
back,  his  most  intimate  friends,  at  least  the  one 
who  had  the  best  opportunity  to  know,  think 
that  about  two  years  before  his  death  bis 
health  showed  signs  of  faltering,  though  they 
were  not  fully  appreciated  or  much  regarded 
at  the  time.  But  in  January,  1859,  be  had  a 
sudden  attack  of  illness  which  for  a  week  or 
two  prostrated  him  on  his  bed ;  and  although 
he  was  soon  around  and  continued  to  preach 


1 18  MEMORIAL. 

until  the  following  May,  he  was  never  well 
again.  Months  later  and  in  the  summer,  Dr. 
Kowland  traced  the  sickness,  which  was  after- 
wards fatal  to  him,  to  this  period  or  the  one 
immediately  previous,  but  its  hidden  internal 
causes  were  undoubtedly  of  a  more  remote  and 
then  unsuspected  date,  and,  after  unseen  prog- 
ress, were  only  receiving  in  this  sickness  their 
full  development.  As  the  winter  closed  and 
the  spring  drew  on  in  its  promise  and  beauty, 
which  so  strongly  contrast  with  sickness  and 
decay,  his  friends  became  alarmed  lest  his  vig- 
orous constitution,  Avhich  had  so  long  enabled 
a  willing  heart  to  do  manful  service  for  his 
master,  should  give  way.  They  hoped,  and 
there  seemed  to  be  reason,  that  his  complaints 
were  merely  dyspeptic,  but  the  severe  pain  in 
the  region  of  his  heart,  his  difficulty  at  times 
of  breathing,  and  his  want  of  sleep,  pointed  to 
something  more  serious.     His  friends  urged 


MEMORIAL.  119 

upon  him  that  he  must  take  some  relaxation. 
In  the  early  part  of  May  he  accordingly  went 
to  Newburgh,  and  spent  about  ten  days  or  a 
fortnight  there,  making  then,  or  in  a  subse- 
quent visit  to  the  same  place  in  June,  "  little 
trips  to  West  Point,  Greenwood  Lake,  and 
other  places  in  the  vicinity."  He  returned  to 
Newark  so  much  better  as  he  thought^  that  he 
ventured  to  preach,  and  on  the  29th  day  of 
May,  delivered  his  last  sermon  in  his  own  pul- 
pit. He  preached  in  the  morning  of  that  day 
from  John  xii.  46,  and  in  the  afternoon  from 
Mathew  vii.  26,  27.  But  he  found  that  he 
had  mistaken  the  degree  of  the  improvement 
in  his  health,  and  estimated  much  too  highly 
his  strength.  His  congregation  "  with  consid- 
erate kindness"  gave  him  a  respite  of  four 
months  from  his  labors.  He  spent  some  time 
with  his  old  and  valued  friends  at  Honesdale, 
and  with  one  of  them  went  to  Saratoga,  in  the 


120  MEMORIAL. 

hope,  which  proved  delusive,  of  some  benefit 
from  its  mineral  waters.  There  he  was  verj 
ill,  and  he  was  hardly  able  to  reach  his  home. 
Under  an  erroneous  impression  of  the  nature 
of  his  disease,  he  had  sought  physical  exercise 
and  excitement,  when  he  needed  rest.  His 
body  had  wasted  away,  and  his  nervous  sys- 
tem had  become  very  much  affected  by  the 
fearful  inroads  of  his  disease.  He  sought  his 
bed  at  once.  But  he  rallied  soon  again,  and 
in  pursuance  of  an  arrangement  previously 
made  with  some  of  his  Honesdale  friends, 
which  he  could  not  be  persuaded  from  fulfil- 
ling, he  started  about  the  first  of  August,  with 
his  wife  and  one  of  his  daughters,  on  a  trip  to 
Gloucester,  Massachusetts,  for  the  benefit  of 
sea-air  and  sea-bathing,  and  the  enjoyment  of 
his  favorite  sport  of  fishing.  On  board  of  the 
steamer  on  his  way  to  Fall  Eiver,  he  be'came 
seriously  ill,  and  reached  Boston  only  "to  lie 


MEMORIAL.  121 

down  on  what  proved  his  bed  of  death."  An 
abler  pen  than  ours,  of  one  who  was  sum- 
moned to  his  side,  shall  describe  the  closing 
scene  of  his  last  sickness. 

''Dr.  Eowland  reached  Boston  Avitli  dif- 
ficulty, and  was  obliged  immediately  to  be- 
take himself  to  his  bed,  and  to  send  for  Dr. 
Jeffries.  In  his  skill  as  a  physician  he  felt 
and  testified  the  utmost  confidence,  while  his 
kind  Christian  sympathy  and  conversation 
were  refreshing  to  his  soul.  Though  his  pros- 
tration was  extreme,  and  his  nervous  derange- 
ment so  great  as  to  prevent  his  sleeping  during 
the  night  or  day,  Dr.  Jeffries  did  not  for  some 
time  consider  that  there  was  serious  danger  of 
a  fatal  termination.  '  I  am  more  afraid  of  his 
mind  than  of  his  life,'  said  he  on  one  occasion, 
to  a  relative  who  had  gone  to  Boston  to  visit 
Dr.  Eowland.  The  medicines  that  he  seemed 
especially  to  need,  were  rest  and  sleep.     Hence 


122  mp:morial. 

for  several  weeks  none  were  admitted  to  his 
room  except  those  who  were  in  attendance 
upon  him,  as  the  unexpected  presence  even  of 
an  old  friend  agitated  him  exceedingly.  As 
the  extreme  nervous  excitability  was,  on  one 
or  two  occasions  in  the  course  of  his  illness, 
somewhat  allayed,  hopes  were  entertained  of 
his  ultimate  recovery.  But  his  constantly 
wasting  strength  plainly  enough  showed  that 
his  days  were  drawing  to  a  close. 

"  His  friend  and  classmate  at  Yale  and  Ando-  ^ 
ver,  the  Eev.  Dr.  Blagden,  of  the  Old  South, 
visited  him  daily  and  praj^ed  at  his  bedside, 
but  the  nature  of  Lis  disease,  as  well  as  the  in- 
junctions of  his  physician^  did  not  allow  of 
lengthened  conversation  with  him.  From  an 
early  period,  Dr.  Kowland  himself  seems  to 
have  been  strongly  impressed  with  the  convic- 
tion that  this  sickness  would  be  unto  death, 
but   the  prospect   did   not   dismay  him;    he 


MEMORIAL.  123 

trusted  in  the  Lord,  and  according  to  the 
promise  he  was  '  kejDt  in  perfect  peace.'  There 
were,  indeed,  moments  when  the  thought  that 
his  recovery  was  possible  occurred  to  him,  and 
he  then  said  that  he  should  like  to  get  well 
that  he  might  labor  for  Christ,  as  he  felt  that 
he  might  be  more  useful  than  he  had  ever 
been — that  he  had  been  brought  to  make  a 
more  complete  surrender  of  himself  to  the 
Lord  than  ever  before  ;  still  if  the  Saviour  had 
nothing  more  for  him  to  do,  he  was  ready  to 
go.  His  wife  and  his  sister  ^vere  constantly 
with  him  by  night  and  by  day,  and  the  latter 
writes,  'Through  his  entire  sickness  I  never 
heard  him  express  a  doubt  of  his  own  accept- 
ance, but  all  his  expressions  were  those  of 
faith,  trust,  and  entire  submission  to  the  will 
of  God.'  He  very  frequently  spoke  of  his 
trust  in  Christ  as  an  all-sufficient  Saviour,  and 
said,  '  I  wish  to  speak  for  Christ,  but  I  have 


124  MEMORIAL. 

not  strength  to  do  so.'  Besides  liis  feebleness, 
the  soreness  of  his  month  and  throat  rendered 
speaking  difficult  and  painful. 

"  A  letter  which  had  just  arrived  from  West- 
ern New  York,  containing  an  account  of  the 
great  good  resulting  from  the  circulation  of 
the  Path  of  Life  in  the  place  where  the  writer 
was  visiting,  afforded  him  great  satisfaction. 
He  remained  silent  for  a  long  time  after  the 
letter  had  been  read  to  him  ;  but  at  length  said 
that  he  had  had  '  wonderful  views  of  the  exten- 
sion of  the  Eedeemer's  kingdom.'  The  subject 
was  evidently  one  especially  attractive  to  him, 
and  which  very  m  uch  occupied  his  thoughts.  He 
at  one  time  asked  his  sister  if  there  were  any 
tidings  of  revivals,  and  when  she  mentioned  to 
him  the  great  work  of  God  in  Ireland  and 
other  parts  of  the  British  isles,  he  exclaimed, 
.'Glorious !  glorious !'  This  was  the  burden  of 
his  prayers — '  Send  forth  thy  light  and  truth.' 


MEMORIAL.  125 

*'  As  the  conviction  became  more  and  more 
settled  in  his  own  mind  that  his  ministry  on 
earth  was  near  its  termination,  his  thoughts 
naturally  turned  to  his  congregation  at  New- 
ark, and  his  tender  interest  in  their  welfare 
came  out  in  various  w^ays.  On  one  occasion 
his  sister,  who  was  watching  at  his  bed,  no- 
ticed that  his  countenance  indicated  that  he 
was  in  great  distress,  and  she  proposed  to 
change  his  position,  hoping  thus  to  relieve 
him ;  but  he  raised  his  head  and  made  a  dep- 
recatory gesture,  saying,  'Hush,  hush.'  As 
the  distress  appeared  to  continue,  and  the  big 
drops  of  perspiration  stood  upon  his  forehead, 
she  again  spoke  to  him,  but  the  same  signifi- 
cant gesture  and  words  were  repeated.  After 
a  while  he  looked  up  calmly  and  said,  '  I  was 
bidding  my  people  farewell.'  During  the  last 
week  of  his  life  a  number  of  his  parishioners 
came  on  to  see  him.     They  could  remain  near 


126  MEMORIAL. 

his  bed  only  for  a  few  moments,  and  lie  was 
able  to  address  only  a  few  words  to  tliem ;  but 
these  words  told  how  warml}^  he  loved  them 
and  yearned  for  theh^  salvation.  To  one  of 
them,  a  valued  friend  who  stayed  in  Boston 
until  his  decease,  he  said,  'The  only  thing 
worth  living  for- — '  his  speech  here  failed  him, 
but  he  made  his  meaning  plain  enough  by 
raising  his  hand,  pointing  towards  heaven. 

"One  night  he  desired  that  his  sister,  who  had 
retired  to  get  some  rest,  might  be  called.  Mrs. 
Eowland  having  awakened  her,  he  said  to 
them,  '  I  am  going  to  dedicate  myself  renew - 
edly  to  God,  and  I  wish  you  to  join  Avith  me 
in  making  a  perfect  and  entire  surrender  of 
ourselves  to  Grod  for  time  and  eternity.'  He 
then  offered  a  ver}^  aff'ecting  prayer,  in  which 
this  purpose  of  his  heart  found  most  appro- 
priate utterance.  After  he  concluded  he  turn- 
ed to  his  wife  and  sister,  and  said  to  them, 


MEMORIAL.  127 

'  Eemember  now  that  jou  are  henceforth  the 
Lord's  wholly.' 

*' During  the  Friday  before  his  death,  he  was 
for  a  good  while  apparently  engaged  in.  medi- 
tation, in.  the  course  of  which  his  face  was  so 
irradiated  with  the  light  of  joy,  that  the  changed 
expression,  usualty  one  of  pain,  Avas  so  striking 
as  to  attract  the  attention  of  those  around  his 
bed.  His  wife  said  to  him,  'You  see  the 
heavenly  city  ?'  'Yes,' he  rej^lied.  Mrs.  F., 
another  relative,  added,  '  And  jou.  will  soon 
be  there.'  He  made  a  gesture  of  assent. 
^  And  you  v/ill  meet,'  she  rejoined,  '  many 
dear  friends  who  have  gone  before  you  there." 
^  More,  more,'  he  exclaimed.  '  You  will  see 
the  Saviour,'  she  added.  '  Yes,'  he  said ; 
•  the  Lamb,  the  Lamb.'  Dr.  Blagden  came 
in  soon  after,  and  asked  him  if  he  could  put 
all  his  trust  in  Christ.  '  Yes,  yes,'  was  his 
instant  response. 


128  MEMORIAL. 

"  During  the  greater  part  of  the  last  week  of 
liis  life,  his  physician  thought  from  day  to  clay 
that  each  one  would  be  his  last.  But  during 
this  whole  period,  though  his  sufferings  at 
times  were  very  great,  he  was  perfectly  con- 
scious, recognizing  and  in  brief  sentences  con- 
versing with  the  friends  around  him.  The 
last  night  he  spent  on  earth  was  one  of  pro- 
tracted and  often  exquisite  pain  ;  but  it  ceased 
an  hour  or  two  before  his  departure,  and  at 
length  he  fell  asleep  so  gently  that  it  v»^as  im- 
possible to  fix  the  moment  when  his  soul  was 
released  for  ever  from  the  sins  and  sorrows  of 
earth,  and  entered  the  pavilion  of  peace  in  the 
bosom  of  his  God  and  Saviour." 

Thus  died  this  servant  of  God — away  from 
his  earthly  home,  but  near  enough  to  that  in 
heaven,  nor  yet  among  strangers,  for  some  of 
those  dear  to  him  were  at  his  side,  relieving  his 
sufferings  by  their  kindness   and   sympathy 


MEMORIAL.  121' 

and  sharing  his  faith — in  a  city,  where  he 
could  avail  himself  of  the  advice  and  skill  of 
eminent  physicians,  an  advantage  to  which  he 
was  not  insensible — in  the  State  of  his  mater- 
nal ancestors,  and  near  the  spot  where  some  of 
them,  exiles  for  religion,  driven  to  a  strange 
land,  had  landed  about  two  centuries  and  a 
quarter  before. 

Dr.  Kowland  died  at  Boston,  on  Sunday, 
the  fourth  day  of  September,  1859,  in  the  fifty- 
fifth  year  of  his  age.  No  doubt  remained  after 
his  death  as  to  the  character  of  the  disease 
under  which  he  had  been  laboring.  It  was 
found  to  be  of  a  complicated  nature,  the  prin 
cipal  feature  of  which  was  an  enlargement  of 
the  heart.  Other  important  organs  were  im- 
plicated or  disastrously  affected,  so  that  had  he 
survived  this  attack,  and  escaped  danger  from 
that  quarter,  his  life  Avould  probably  not  have 
been  for  a  great  while  prolonged. 


180  MEMORIAL. 

The  mournful  train  of  his  friends  left  Boston, 
on  the  next  Monday  morning,  with  all  that 
was  mortal  of  Dr.  Eowland,  and  arrived  at 
Newark  on  the  following  evening. 

The  daily  newspapers  of  that  city  had  from 
day  to  day  made  known  his  condition,  as  for 
some  time  past  "  'twixt  night  and  morn"  his 
life  had  hovered  "  on  the  horizon's  verge,"  and 
a  deep  and  general  interest  in  him,  and  the 
event  of  his  sickness  had  been  felt.  The  in- 
telligence of  his  death,  though  not  unexpected, 
made  a  deep  impression  upon  the  whole  com- 
munity, and  called  forth  expressions  of  sorrow 
and  sympathy  from  all  classes  of  the  citizens. 
The  strong  hold  which  Dr.  Eowland  had  gained 
on  their  affections,  within  the  short  period  of  his 
ministry  among  them,  was  now  seen  and  recog- 
nized. The  members  of  his  congregation  were 
prompt,  assiduous,  and  generous  in  manifesting 
their  attachment  to  him,  and  in  rendering  their 


MEMORIAL.  131 

services  to  his  family,  and  in  the  last  sad  rites. 
The  sorrowful  company  of  friends  on  their  ar- 
rival from  Boston  at  New  York,  were  received 
by  members  of  the  congregation,  and  conduct- 
ed to  Newark,  and  by  others  still  at  Dr.  Eow- 
land's  house.  How  changed  the  scene  from 
that  which  had  gathered  them  there  a  year 
ago! 

The  shadow  of  death  so  long  delayed  had  at 
last  fallen  upon  this  pleasant  home,  and  the 
honored  head  of  the  then  unbroken  family  had 
been  laid  low.  Into  the  sacred  sorrows  of  that 
hour  we  will  not  intrude  ;  but  if  the  angel  of 
death  was  there,  we  believe  that  the  angels  of 
consolation  and  faith  were  also  there. 

The  last  mournful  ceremonies  were  celebrated 
on  the  Thursda}^  following.  After  a  prayer 
had  been  offered  at  the  house  by  the  Eev.  Dr. 
Wilson,  the  remains  of  the  deceased  were 
accompanied  by  his  relatives  and  immediate 


132  MEMOIUAL. 

friends  to  Park  Church,  where  the  funeral  ser- 
vices were  conducted  by  clergymen  of  the  city. 
The  large  church,  draped  in  black,  was  crowd- 
ed to  excess.  The  funeral  sermon,  an  impres- 
sive discourse,  was  preached  by  the  Kev.  Dr.  E. 
E.  Fairchild,  from  Matt.  xxv.  21 :  "  Well  done, 
good  and  faithful  servant.  Thou  hast  been 
faithful  over  a  few  things,  I  will  make  thee 
ruler  over  many  things.  Enter  thou  into  the 
joy  of  thy  Lord."  After  explaining  the  para- 
ble, from  which  the  text  was  taken,  he  referred 
to  the  cliaracter  of  the  deceased,  and  spoke 
strongly  of  his  fidelity,  piety,  virtues,  and  tal- 
ents, of  his  qualities  as  a  man  and  a  Christian, 
of  his  abilities  as  a  preacher  and  excellence  as 
a  pastor,  and  gave  a  brief  notice  of  the  princi- 
pal events  of  his  life.  At  the  close  of  the 
solemn  services  the  procession  proceeded  to 
Mount  Pleasant  Cemetery,  where  a  touching- 
address  was  made  by  the  Kev.  Dr.  Stearns ;  and 


MEMORIAL.  133 

there,  on  the  bank  of  the  Passaic,  by  the  side 
of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Polhemus,  were  Laid  the  re- 
mains of  our  departed  friend,  to  rest  until  he 
shall  "  rise  again  in  the  resurrection  at  the  last 
day,"  when  "  this  corruptible  must  put  on 
incorruption,  and  this  mortal  must  put  on  im- 
mortality." 

The  death  of  Dr.  Ptowland  was  profoundly 
felt, — the  more  profoundly  in  the  city  of  his 
residence,  that  ah^eady,  within  the  two  years 
immediately  previous,  two  pastors  of  distinction 
connected  with  churches  in  that  city,  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Scott  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Polhemus,  had 
been  removed  from  their  posts  by  similar  acts 
of  Divine  Providence.  The  society  of  which 
Dr.  Rowland  was  pastor,  beyond  its  participa- 
tion in  the  general  grief,  had  its  own  peculiar 
cause  of  sorrow.  It  had  lost  a  beloved  teacher 
and  guide  just  as  it  had  learned  to  appreciate 
his  worth,  and  as  it  had  entered  on  anew  career 


184  MEMORIAL. 

of  strengtli  and  prosperity.  It  was  a  source 
of  great  satisfaction  to  Dr.  Rowland  in  his 
sickness,  that,  as  he  believed,  the  church  for 
which  he  had  labored  so  earnestly  was  now 
firmly  established.  Resolutions  were  adopted 
to  express  the  profound  sense  of  their  loss  by 
his  death,  their  warm  attachment  to  him,  and 
high  appreciation  of  his  character  and  labors ; 
his  salary  was  generously  continued  to  the  end 
of  the  year  for  the  benefit  of  his  family,  and 
many  other  substantial  and  generous  proofs  were 
given  of  their  regard  for  him  and  his  family. 

On  the  Sabbath  succeeding  the  burial  of  Dr. 
Rowland,  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  Forsyth,  of  New- 
bui'gh,  preached  a  sermon  in  the  vacant  pulpit 
of  Park  Church,  with  reference  to  the  event 
which  had  deprived  it  of  its  pastor,  on  the  appro- 
priate theme  of  abounding  in  the  work  of  the 
Lord,  from  the  text  1  Cor.  xv.  58  :  "  Therefore^ 
my  beloved  brethren,  he  ye  steadfast  immovable, 


MEMORIAL.  135 

always  abounding  in  the  worh  of  the  Lord^ 
He  showed  that  it  was  the  duty  of  all  Chris- 
tians (explaining  in  what  manner)  to  abound 
in  the  work  of  the  Lord,  and  to  be  immovably 
steadfast  in  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of 
the  dead,  inculcated  in  the  glowing  passage  of 
which  his  text  was  part,  and  he  said  that  the  text 
intimated  that  there  was  a  close  connection  be- 
tween such  steadfastness  and  abounding  in  the 
Lord's  work  ;  and  then,  after  having  spoken  of 
the  fundamental  verities  of  Christ  dead  and 
Christ  risen^  he  made  a  solemn  and  affecting  ad- 
dress to  his  audience  on  the  event  of  Dr.  Row- 
land's death. 

On  the  following  Sabbath,  the  Rev.  Dr. 
McKee,  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  who 
had  supplied  Dr.  Rowland's  pulpit  in  his  ab- 
sence, preached  a  sermon  at  Park  Church,  with 
reference  to  the  same  event,  and  this  sermon 
closed  what  may  be  considered  as  the  series  of 
funereal  services. 


136  MEMORIAL. 

Thus  died  and  was  buried,  the  Rev.  Henry 
Augustus  Boivland^  honored  and  beloved.  We 
have  entirely  failed  in  the  imperfect  outline 
which  we  have  sketched,  if  it  be  necessary 
to  speak  particularly  here  of  his  character. 
His  life  speaks.  We  have  tried  to  give  a  sim- 
ple picture  of  it. 

He  was  a  sincere  Christian,  unwavering  in 
his  faith.  From  the  time  when  he  entered  the 
Christian  ministry,  his  life  was  full  of  proofs 
of  devotion  to  his  divine  Master.  His  piety 
was  not  formal  or  ostentatious,  but  it  lay  at  the 
foundation  of  his  whole  course  of  action.  It 
was  more  a  principle  than  a  sentiment,  though 
it  partook  of  both.  It  was  the  animating  mo- 
tive, the  impelling  spring  of  all  his  exertions. 
As  a  preacher,  he  was  able,  forcible,  and  in- 
structive, clearly  explaining  and  boldly  de- 
fending'^  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  and  en- 
forcing them  with  solid  argument  and  earnest 


MEMOIUAI..  137 

exhortation.  Ilis  sermons  were  diligently 
prepared,  and  usually  sedulously  corrected, 
though  less  with  reference  to  the  niceties  of 
verbal  criticism  than  to  force  of  argument  and 
effectiveness  of  expression.  As  a  pastor,  he 
was  active  and  faithful,  sympathizing  with  all 
classes  of  his  people,  familiar  with  them  all,  vis- 
iting them  freely  in  their  homes  and  places  of 
business,  meeting  them  without  formality  and  re- 
straint, and  winning  their  confidence  and  their 
hearts,  mindful  of  the  poor  and  contributing 
generously  to  their  relief,  assiduously  caring  for 
the  instruction  of  the  young,  and  w^isely  and  pa- 
tiently leading  the  inquiring  into  the  path  of 
life.  He  was  one  of  those  practical,  earnest,  en- 
ergetic men,  Avho  build  up  the  institutions  of  our 
Christian  civilization,  and  to  whom  society  owes 
a  debt  of  gratitude  which;  after  they  are  gone, 
she  is  not  always  prompt  to  repay.  As  an  author, 
he  has  made  valuable  contributions  to  our  sacred 


138  MEMORIAL, 

literature,  wliicTi  will  pro]ong  his  usefulness 
and  perpetuate  the  fragrance  of  his  name. 

lie  was  a  noble -hearted  man,  of  great  moral 
courage,  of  genial  temper,  social  inclinations 
and  habits,  frank,  open,  transparent  as  the 
day,  with  cheerful  manners  and  an  illumina- 
ting smile.  He  was  true  and  constant  in  his 
friendships,  upright,  forgiving,  and  sincere,  with 
a  large,  generous  heart.  In  his  family  he  was 
the  loving  and  beloved  husband  and  father, 
the  centre  of  its  affections  and  hopes. 

He  did  not  pretend  to  be  without  faults.  It 
was  a  part  of  his  religion  that  we  do  daily  err 
in  thought,  word  and  deed,  and  he  neither  ac- 
knowledged perfection  in  others,  nor  laid  claim 
to  it  himself  He  knew  his  own  integrity  and 
the  honesty  with  which  he  uttered  his  convic- 
tions. His  faults,  such  as  they  were,  lay  on 
the  surface,  and  grew  out  of  the  simplicity, 
frankness,  earnestness,  and  energy  of  his  char- 


MEMORIAL.  139 

acter.     They  did  not  affect  its  solid  basis  or 
substantial  worth. 

Those,  for  whom  it  is  appropriate,  have  re- 
hearsed the  lessons  of  his  life  and  his  death. 
We  would  silently  meditate  upon  them. 


We  have  been  permitted  to  copy  from  Dr. 
Forsyth's  sermon,  to  which  we  have  already 
referred,*  his  closing  address,  in  these  words: 

The  subject  to  which,  your  attention  has 
been  directed,  seems  to  me  to  be  a  not  inap- 
j)ropriate  theme  of  meditation,  in  the  circum- 
stances in  which  we  meet  in  this  sanctuary, 
and  in  which,  unexpectedly,  I  have  been  asked 
to  occupy  this  vacant  pulpit.  To  myself,  per- 
sonally, as  well  as  you,  these  circumstances 
are  very  solemn  and  affecting.  Only  two 
*  See  page  134. 


140  MEMORIAL. 

years  ago,  among  the  pastors  of  tliis  city,  there 
were  two,  both  of  whom  were  my  brothers  m 
a  double  sense;  both  of  whom  were  in  the 
meridian  of  their  days ;  and  concerning  both 
of  whom  it  might  then  have  been  said  that, 
among  all  their  colleagues,  none  had  fairer  pros- 
pects of  being  spared  for  active  and  effec- 
tive labor  for  Christ,  during  many  years.  To- 
day they  are  both  num.bered  with,  the  dead 
who  have  died  in  the  Lord,  and  in  yonder 
beautiful  cemetery  on  the  banks  of  the  Passaic, 
they  repose  side  by  side.  They  have  gone  to 
swell  the  myriads  who  sleep  in  Jesus.  They  have 
finished  their  course,  and  having  kept  the  faith 
they  have  joined  the  great  multitude  of  disem- 
bodied saints  who  are  present  with  the  Lord. 
Nor  are  they  the  only  ones  who  have  been 
called  within  the  short  period,  from  your  good- 
ly brotherhood  of  pastors,  to  rest  from  their 
labors.      Another  is  there  whose  memory  is 


MEMORIAL.  141 

precious  to  many  in  tins  city.  "Within  the 
brief  space  of  two  years,  three  sister  churches 
standing  ahnost  side  by  side  have  been  com- 
pelled to  array  themselves  in  the  dark  drapery 
of  mourning.  Polhemus,  Scott,  Eowland, — 
shall  be  seen  no  more  forever  in  the  pulpits, 
nor  in  the  streets  where  they  were  so  well 
known. 

Surely  these  repeated  strokes,  coming  as  they 
do  from  the  hand  of  Grod,  are  not  without  a 
meaning!  Yes.  "The  Lord's  voice  crieth 
unto  the  city,  and  the  man  of  wisdom  shall  see 
thy  name;  hear  ye  the  rod  and  him  who 
hath  appointed  it."  These  successive  bereave- 
ments are  indeed  the  impressive  utterance  of 
him  who  walketh  in  the  the  midst  of  the  gold- 
en candlesticks,  addressed  to  ministers  and  to 
people, — saying  to  one  and  all,  "Be  watchful 
and  strengthen  the  things  that  remain ;  have 
patience,  and  for  my  name's  sake  labor  and 


142  MEMORIAL. 

faint  not;  be  steadfast,  immovable,  always 
abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord,  for  tbe 
night  Cometh  in  which  no  man  can  work." 

I  do  not  appear  before  you  this  morning,  my 
dear  friends,  for  the  purpose  of  painting  the 
character,  or  of  describing  the  career  of  the 
pastor  whom  God  hath  taken  from  you.  That 
service  has  been  already  well  performed  by 
one  who  had  known  him  long — a  beloved 
friend  and  brother  in  the  ministry  every  way 
competent  to  the  task.  But  indeed,  those 
among  whom  Dr.  Sowland  has  gone  out  and 
in,  discharging  the  various  functions  of  his 
of&ce,  hardly  require  any  other  portraiture  of 
him  than  that  which  is  written  on  their  own 
memories.  For  if  ever  there  was  a  man  who 
walked  among  his  fellows  with  a  window  in 
his  breast,  it  was  he.  Long  and  intimate  as- 
sociation with  some  men  is  necessary  in  order 
to  understand  them  thoroughly,  and  rightly  to 


MEMORIAL.  148 

appreciate  them.  Kot  so  with  your  departed 
Pastor.  His  distinctive  traits  were  so  legible 
that  all  who  were  brought  into  contact  with 
him  could  read  them.  But,  as  I  have  said,  I 
do  not  come  here  to  portray  or  to  eulogize  the 
dead.  Let  me  rather  enforce  the  exhortation 
of  the  text  by  arguments  suggested  by  his  life 
and  death.  And  if  he  could  have  been  convej^ed 
from  the  chamber  Avhere  he  breathed  his  last, 
into  this  pulpit,  to  utter  in  your  hearing  the 
farewell  to  his  people  which  he  tried  to  ex- 
cogitate, even  amid  the  pain  and  languor  of 
disease,  oh!  with  what  intense  earnestness 
and  emphasis  would  he  have  cried  out  to  you, 
"Be  steadfast,  immovable,  always  abounding 
in  the  work  of  the  Lord." 

If,  dear  friends,  you  could  have  been  with 
your  dying  pastor  during  the  last  week  of  his 
life ;  if  you  could  have  been  admitted  to  see 
him  as  he  lay  upon  the  bed  from  which. he  was 


144  MEMORIAL. 

never  to  rise ;  if  you  could  have  seen  him  wan 
and  wasted  by  disease,  sleepless,  tossing  his 
head  upon  his  pillow,  while  often  his  whole 
frame  was  racked  by  sharpest  pain,  and  if  you 
had  been  forced  as  you  would  have  been  if 
there,  just  to  sit  and  look  upon  his  sufferings, 
conscious  that  neither  friend  nor  physician 
could  alleviate  them,  you  might  have  been 
tempted  to  say.  How  pitiable  his  case,  how  in- 
tensely wretched  his  condition.  And  yet,  if 
by  the  turning  of  a  straw  he  could  have  been 
raised  from  that  bed  of  languishing  to  instant 
and  perfect  health — unless  for  your  sake,  and 
for  those  dear  to  him  by  the  ties  of  nature — I 
am  persuaded  that  he  would  not  have  turned 
it.  He  knew  whom  he  had  believed,  and  was 
confident  that  for  him  "  to  die  is  gain." 

Do  you  ask  me  what  sustained  him  ?  It 
was  the  sight  of  the  Lamb  of  God,  once  slain 
for  sinners ;  it  was  the  felt  presence  of  Christ, 


MEMORIAL.  145 

who  died  and  rose  again.  This  was  tlie  truth 
which  he  found  more  precious  than  gold  or 
silver, — the  truth  which  filled  him  with  a  di- 
vine peace  even  then  when  heart  and  flesh  were 
failing,  and  when  he  himself  was  conscious  that 
the  earthly  house  of  his  tabernacle  was  dissolv- 
ing. Yes,  it  was  the  simple  truth  "  how  that 
Christ  died  and  rose  again." 

And  during  all  those  wearisome  weeks  which 
were  appointed  him,  and  especially  as  he  saw 
their  end  approaching,  what,  think  you,  were 
the  recollections  he  most  fondly  cherished,  the 
memories  which,  like  gentle  breezes  laden  with 
balmy  fragrance,  refreshed  his  wearied  heart  ? 
It  was  the  remembrance  of  the  service  he  had 
been  enabled  to  render  to  the  cause  of  his 
divine  Master  —  of  the  good  accomplished 
through  his  instrumentality — of  the  time  spent, 
the  efforts  made,  to  advance  the  Lord's  work. 

These  were  the  recollections  that  came  over  him 

7 


146  MEMOKIAL. 

with  an  influence  like  that  of  the  descending 
dew  upon  the  mountains  of  Zion.  His  only 
regret  was  that  he  had  not  "  abounded"  more 
in  the  blessed  work.  As  he  said  to  a  friend 
who  had  come  from  a  distance  to  see  him, — 
"  The  only  thing  worth  living  for" — he  could 
not  complete  the  sentence  in  words,  but  he 
made  his  meaning  plain  enough,  as  he  feebly 
lifted  his  hand  and  turned  his  dying  eyes 
towards  heaven.  From  that  bed  of  death, 
from  his  new-made  grave,  he  speaks  to  you, 
saying,  "  My  beloved  brethren,  be  ye  steadfast 
— always  abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord^ 

Oh !  my  dear  friends,  let  me  entreat  you  to 
"  remember  him  who  hath  spoken  to  you  the 
words  of  God,"  not  merely  by  cherishing  the 
memory  of  him  as  a  pastor,  and  a  friend,  but 
by  "considering  the  end  of  his  conversation," 
Jesus  Christ,  and  by  following  his  faith.  He 
has  spoken  to  you  from  the  pulpit ;  he  has  spo- 


MEMORIAL.  147 

ken  to  you  in  your  own  homes ;  he  has  pressed 
upon  you  the  claims  of  the  Redeemer,  the  per- 
ils of  your  souls,  the  momentous  realities  of 
eternity.  Some  of  you  have  been,  it  may  be, 
not  unmoved  by  these  faithful  dealings  of  a 
pastor  whose  face  you  shall  never  see  again, 
whose  voice  you  shall  no  more  hear ;  and  yet 
you  have  not  taken  the  decisive  step — you  have 
not  yet  brought  yourselves  to  form  the  grand 
resolve.  You  are  still  lingering,  still  hesitating 
between  the  world  and  Christ,  you  are  sensible 
that  your  condition  is  neither  right  nor  safe ; 
you  are,  in  a  word,  strangers  to  peace  and  joy, 
because  strangers  to  Jesus  who  died  and  rose 
again.  Listen,  I  beseech  you,  to  the  voice  of 
this  bereavement,  to  the  solemn  voice  that 
comes  to  you  from  this  now  vacant  pulpit. 
And  may  your  Pastor's  death  be  the  means  of 
bringing  you  to  the  instant  and  blessed  deci- 
sion to  yield  yourselves  to  that  Saviour  whom 
it  was  his  greatest  joy  to  preach. 


SERMON 


REV.  E.  R.  FAIRCHILD,  D.D. 


Preached  at  the  Funeral  of  Eev.  IIexey  A.  Eowland,  D.  T>.   Thurs- 
day Morning,  September  8th,  1S59,  and  repeated  by  request,  Sun- 
day Evening,  the  23d  of  October  following,  to  his  former 
charge  in  Honesdale,  Pa. 


SERMON. 


Well  done,  thou  good  and  faithful  servant;  thou  hast  been 
faithful  over  a  few  things,  I  wiU  make  thee  ruler  over  many 
things :  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  tliy  Lord. 

— Matt.  xxv.  21. 

These  words  constitute  a  part  of  our  Sav- 
^iour's  memorable  "parable  of  the  talents." 
The  main  design  of  that  parable  was,  to  unfold, 
in  a  true  and  impressive  form,  the  relations  of 
men  to  Grod— their  accountability  to  him  for 
things  entrusted  to  them,  for  use  or  enjoy- 
ment— and  the  future  condition  which  awaited 
them  for  their  respective  courses,  in  practical 

life. 

It  was  doubtless  the  intention  of  the  Saviour, 
that  these  truths,  thus  set  forth,  should  also 
furnish  to   all   who   should  hear  his   gospel 


152  SEKMON. 

worthy  and  weighty  motives  to  diligence  and 
fidelity,  in  the  discharge  of  the  duties  which 
were  divinely  imposed  upon  them.  That  in- 
tention the  parable  most  happily  carries  out. 
The  imagery  employed,  though  simple,  and 
drawn  from  familiar  scenes,  appeals  strongly 
to  principles  of  human  nature  which,  to  a  very 
large  extent,  control  the  lives  of  men.  A 
most-striking  part  of  that  imagery  is  comprised 
in  the  words  of  the  text,  which  no  one  can^ 
deliberately  contemplate  without  admiring  its 
moral  beauty  and  feeling  its  power. 

In  the  former  part  of  the  parable  the  Master 
is  represented  as  having  distributed  his  goods 
among  his  servants,  and  also  as  having  gone 
into  a  far  countrj^,  and  tarried  there  a  long 
time.  He  is  here  represented  as  having  re- 
turned and  engaged  in  taking  an  account  of 
his  servants'  stewardship.  He  has  just  finish- 
ed his  reckoning  with  one  to  whom  he  had 


SERMON.  153 

entrusted  the  largest  amount  of  his  goods. 
That  servant  was  found  to  have  been  most  con- 
scientiously and  scrupulously  faithful  to  the 
interests  committed  to  his  care ;  and  as  evidence 
of  his  fidelity,  industry,  and  attention  to  his 
various  duties,  he  presented  the  goods  he  had 
originally  received,  and  the  increase  which  his 
efforts  had  secured : 

"  And  so  he  that  had  received  five  talents, 
came  and  brought  other  five  talents,  saying, 
Lord,  thou  deliveredst  unto  me  five  talents : 
behold  I  have  gained  besides  them  five  talents 
more." 

The  gratification  of  the  Master  at  the  dis- 
covery of  this  faithfulness  and  its  results  is 
intense,  if  not  unbounded,  and  in  the  text  his 
feelings  and  gracious  purposes  are  earnestly 
and  emphatically  expressed.  He  therein  pro- 
claims his  unqualified  approbation  of  both  the 

character  and  work  of  the  servant ;  and  offi- 
7* 


154  SERMON. 

cially  announces  to  him  the  honorable  treat- 
ment he  shall  consequently  receive — the  high 
and  glorious  rewards  to  which  he  shall  succeed 
and  enjoy  forever. 

''  Well  done !  thou  good  and  faithful  ser- 
vant! ....  I  will  make  thee  ruler  over 
MANY  THINGS :  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy 
Lord." 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  recipient  is 
a  servant,  and  has  lived  in  association  with 
servants  and  the  things  connected  with  a 
humble  condition  of  life  ;  but  now  there  is  to 
be  a  happy  and  a  great  change — a  transition 
from  servitude,  obscurity,  poverty,  to  that  of 
freedom,  rank,  wealth,  influence,  princely 
honors,  the  rich  and  varied  enjoyments  of  a 
glorious  and  imperishable  kingdom.  That 
life  which  has  hitherto  been  led,  remote  from 
the  celestial  dwelling-place  of  the  Master,  is  no 
longer  to  be  drawn  out  in  a  far-distant  and 


SERMON.  155 

trying  abode  of  care  and  toil,  of  sin  and  sor- 
row ;  but  excliano;ed  for  a  life  to  be  led  in  tlie 
heavenly  world,  in  the  immediate  presence  of 
the  Saviour — and  Vvhose  excellence  and  happi- 
ness by  way  of  distinction  and  of  eminence  is 
called  "  the  joy  of  his  Lord." 

If  the  parable  refers  exclusively,  as  some 
suppose,  to  ministers  of  the  gospel,  who  in 
the  Scriptures  are  called  servants  of  Christ, 
(though  I  see  no  necessity  for  restricting  it  to 
them,)  then  the  scenes  of  the  text,  which  rep- 
resent the  great  events  connected  with  the 
death  of  an  eminent  one  of  them,  are  pecu- 
liarly appropriate  for  contemplation  on  this  sad 
and  mournful  occasion.  But  I  cannot  thus 
limit  it.  It  has  a  wider  range,  and  while  it 
refers,  it  may  be,  in  some  special  sense,  to 
those  who  have  been  invested  with  the  office 
of  the  ministr}^,  it  also  has  reference  to  all 
the  servants  of  the  Saviour,  everywhere  and  in 


156  SERMON. 

every  station  in  society.  It  brings  out  to  view 
the  great  and  joyous  truth  that  every  one 
who  loves  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity — 
who  takes  the  will  of  God  as  the  rule  of  his 
life — and  the  divine  glory  as  the  end  of  all  his 
efforts,  and  in  this  manner  fills  up,  well  and 
properly,  the  sphere  divinely  allotted  to  him, 
will  at  death  be  admitted  into  the  heavenly 
world,  and  be  made  ineffably  happy  through 
eternit}^  This  in  few  words  is  the  character 
of  a  "  good  and  faithful  servant "  of  the  Lord, 
and  the  blessed  reward  to  which  he  succeeds 
when  he  has  finished  his  earthly  course. 

A  formal  and  full  development  of  the  charac- 
teristics of  a  "  good  and  faithful  servant " — and 
of  the  nature  and  grounds  of  the  rewards  be- 
stowed upon  him  at  death  seems  called  for  by 
the  text,  and  would  comprise  a  rich  and  profit- 
able variety  of  thought ;  but  the  circumstances 
of  the  occasion  admonish   me  of  the  fitness 


SERMON.  157 

of  brevity,  and  I  shall  therefore  notice  these 
things  but  incidentally^  and  as  illustrated  in  the 
person  and  life  of  that  excellent  man,  and 
brother  in  Christ,  whose  comparatively  sudden 
and  unexpected  decease  has  now  convened  us. 

And  what  gloom,  what  sorrow,  what  tender 
associations,  what  solemn  and  painful  interest, 
gather  around  and  attach  to  the  event  that 
has  assembled  us  in  the  sanctuary  to-day ! 

In  the  death  of  any  person  there  is  some- 
thing that  awakens  a  feeling  which  nothing 
else  inspires, — a  feeling  which  words  are  wholly 
inadequate  to  describe. 

That  mysterious  change  which  we  see  come 
over  the  form  which  was  previously  blooming 
in  health,  joyous  in  its  activity,  exquisitely 
sensitive,  and  diffusing  pteasure  on  all  around 
—which  reduces  it  to  insensibility,  and  clothes 
it  with  repulsive  attributes — which  dissolves 
all  its  earthly  relations,  and  sunders  all  its  ties, 


158  SERMON. 

however  tender  and  dear,  so  that  they  can  no 
more  be  formed,  or  united, — and  then  that  dense 
darkness  that  overshadows,  as  to  us,  the 
nature  of  the  futurity  on  which  the  departed 
spirit  has  entered,  places  the  death  of  any  indi- 
vidual among  the  most  painful  and  appalling 
of  events.  We  cannot  contemplate  death, 
even  when  occurring  among  strangers,  doing 
its  work  upon  the  commonest  citizens,  though 
it  has  been  ravaging  the  earth  for  many  long 
centuries,  without  a  severe  and  painful  shock 
to  all  our  sensibilities.  But  when  viewed  in 
closer  proximity, — when  its  victim  is  taken 
from  the  circles  of  our  acquaintance,  or  is  one 
who  has  occupied  places  of  influence  or  trust, 
and  has  been  distinguished  by  excellence  of 
character  and  usefulness  of  life,  our  emotions 
are  more  painful,  the  awe  is  more  solemli 
and  oppressive. 

But   when   it  intrudes   into   our    domestic 


SERMON.  169 

circle,  and  strikes  down  a  venerable  parent,  a 
brotlier  or  sister,  an  affectionate  child,  or  a 
beloved  companion,— a  husband,  or  wife, — ^tbe 
shock  is  almost  overpowering,  and  emotions 
are  awakened  which  we  cannot  describe,  and 
which  can  find  expression  only  in  sighs  and 
tears,  and  from  the  burden  of  which  the  soul 
can  find  adequate  and  permanent  relief  only  in 
Gofl,  and  in  the  grace  of  the  gospel. 

Such  to-day  is  our  sad  and  painful  position. 
Death  has  made  a  terrible  breach  upon  us. 
He  has  made  his  mark  high.  An  affectionate 
husband,  a  kind  and  indulgent  father,  a  sym- 
pathizing and  generous  brother,  a  pleasant 
companion,  a  valuable  citizen,  an  able  "  minis- 
ter of  the  New  Testament,"  a  most  fiiithful 
and  useful  pastor,  has  fallen  by  his  invisible, 
yet  sure  and  fatal  shaft.  And  what  aggravates 
the  woe  is  its  sudden  and  unexpected  visita- 
tion, and  also  the  fact  that,  led  by  an  over- 


160  SERMON. 

ruling,  mysterious  Providence  to  a  distant  city, 
when  going  in  quest  of  health  far  beyond  it, 
he  fell,  as  it  were  exiled  from  the  bosom  of  his 
family  and  church,  and  where  but  few  of 
either  could  be  with  him.  But  some  of  them 
were  present,  and  witnessed  the  last  scenes  of 
his  earthly  existence,  and  ministered  to  all  his 
wants. 

And  strangers  gathered  round  him  there, 
and  manifested  their  sympathy,  and  extended 
their  aid.  Thanks  to  those  kind  and  generous 
persons  in  that  city,  who,  moved  by  Christian 
sympathy,  cheerfully  and  promptly  performed 
many  offices  of  love  and  kindness  to  him,  and 
those  of  his  friends  who  were  permitted  to 
visit  and  temporarily  to  remain  with  him. 

But  though  the  death  we  mourn  is  trying  in 
the  extreme,  we  will  bow  in  humble  submis- 
sion to  the  will  of  him  who  has  inflicted  it,  not 
doubting  that  it  has  been  ordered  in  infinite 


SEKMON.  161 

wisdom,  and  for  the  promotion  of  great  and 
glorious  ends.  Devoutly,  we  therefore  say,  in 
the  midst  of  our  sorrow,  "  Not  our  will,  0 
God,  but  thine  be  done." 

"We  come  then,  with  subdued  feelings,  to  the 
discharge  of  a  painful  duty, — the  celebration  of 
the  funeral  solemnities  of  the  Rev.  Henry  Au- 
gustus Rowland,  D.  T>. 

"While  to  surviving  relatives  and  friends  the 
event  we  mourn  is  deeply  afflictive,  by  reason 
of  relations  dissolved,  ties  sundered,  friend- 
ships distui'bed,  and  an  awful,  unalterable  in- 
terdict which  it  has  placed  on  all  communica- 
tion with  him  on  earth,  "  till  the  heavens  be 
no  more,"  still  the  scenes  connected  with  it  are 
not  wholly  dark.  Light  is  mingled  with  them. 
There  was  much  to  console  the  living,  to  sus- 
tain the  dying — and  for  many  reasons,  we 
think  that  death  to  him  who  has  been  taken 
from  us  is  unspeakable  gain.     He  sustained 


162  SERMON. 

in  an  eminent  degree  the  character  of  the  ser- 
vant whom  the  Master  in  the  parable  pro- 
moted, and,  like  him,  he  has  entered,  we  doubt 
not,  into  the  "joy  of  his  Lord."  We  have, 
therefore,  strong  reasons  on  his  account,  at 
least,  to  mingle  expressions  of  joy  and  thank- 
fulness, in  our  service,  and  greatly  to  moderate 
our  griefs.  Believing  that  he  is  now  in  the 
immediate  presence  of  the  Great  Master — and 
in  the  unrestricted  enjoyment  of  the  blessed- 
ness of  the  heavenly  world,  into  which  none 
but  "  good  and  faithful  servants  "  are  admit- 
ted, we  may  compose  our  feelings,  and  think 
and  speak  of  him  freely,  and  derive  the  lessons 
which  his  active  life  and  triumphant  Christian 
death  suggest  and  impressively  enforce. 

The  Kev.  Henry  Augustus  Rowland,  D.  D., 
was  the  eldest  son  of  the  Rev.  Henry  A.  Row- 
land, who  for  many  years  was  pastor  of  the  first 
Congregational  church  of  Windsor,  in  the  State 


SERMON.  163 

of  Connecticut.  His  mother  was  the  daughter 
of  the  Hon.  Moses  Bliss,  of  Springfield,  Massa- 
chusetts. He  was  born  on  the  19th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1804.  The  family  consisted  of  five 
sons  and  two  daughters,  seven  in  all — two  on- 
ly of  whom — a  brother  and  a  sister — survive 
him. 

His  early  training  was  religious.  In  this 
regard  he  enjoyed  the  privileges  usually  con- 
nected with  the  families  of  evangelical  and 
pious  ministers  of  New  England,  and  the 
salutary  influence  upon  him  was  felt  through 
all  his  life.  His  childhood  was  not  particu- 
larly marked,  but  was  spent  chiefly  at  home, 
amid  the  scenes  of  his  native  place  and  the 
immediate  vicinity.  There  he  attended  the 
common  school,  and,  exhibiting  a  taste  for  the 
higher  branches  of  education,  and  also  the 
possession  of  talents  which  seemed  to  promise 
much  usefulness,  if  cultivated,  he  was  put  up- 


164  SERMON. 

on  a  course  of  study  preparatory  to  entering 
college.  At  the  early  age  of  fifteen  he  entered 
Yale  College,  and  graduated  in  1823. 

His  hopeful  conversion  to  Christ  occurred 
soon  after  he  had  entered  upon  college  life, 
and  before  he  had  attained  his  sixteenth  year. 
Thus  from  his  youth  he  was  the  servant  of  the 
Lord.  Though  young,  his  religious  exercises, 
prior  and  subsequent  to  his  conversion,  were 
very  distinctly  marked,  and  the  change 
wrought  was  so  decisive  as  to  be  very  satisfac- 
tory to  his  Christian  friends,  as  well  as  to 
inspire  himself  with  strong  hope  of  his  per- 
sonal acceptance  of  God,  and  of  eternal  life 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

From  this  date  he  became  deeply  interested 
for  the  salvation  of  his  fellow-men.  With  his 
years  this  interest  increased  in  strength.  Hav- 
ing an  intense  desire  to  be  engaged  in  the 
work  of  the  gospel  ministry,  in  order  to  pre- 


SERMOI^.  165 

pare  himself  for  it,  in  1824  he  entered  the  The* 
ological  Seminary  at  Anclover,  in  the  State  of 
Massachusetts,  and  for  three  years  pursued 
with  diligence  the  course  of  study  prescribed  in 
that  institution.  In  the  autumn  of  1827,  he 
was  licensed  to  preach  by  the  Hampden  Con- 
gregational Association  of  Massachusetts.  He 
now  had  attained  the  object  which  he  had  so 
long  desired,  and  he  addressed  himself  with 
energy  to  the  work  of  the  ministry  as  doors 
of  labor  were  opened  before  him. 

His  peculiar  qualifications  for  enlisting  the 
sympathies  of  people  in  objects  in  which 
he  was  himself  interested— his  industry  and 
executive  ability,  soon  brought  him  to  the 
notice  of  the  officers  and  friends  of  the  Amer- 
ican Bible  Society,  who  sought  and  obtained, 
his  services  in  its  behalf.  He  labored  for  that 
Society,  discharging  important  duties,  promot- 
ing its  influence  and  usefulness,  till  the  spring 


166  SERMON. 

of  1880, — a  period  of  a  little  more  than  two 
years. 

During  the  summer  of  1830  he  labored  in 
the  city  of  Philadelphia,  supplying  the  place 
of  the  pastor  of  the  Arch  street  Presbyterian 
church  (now  the  Eev.  Dr.  Skinner),  who  was 
temporarily  absent.  His  ministry  there  was 
highly  acceptable  and  useful,  and  many  of  the 
people  of  that  congregation  remember  him 
still  with  much  affection.  On  the  24th  of 
November  of  the  same  year,  he  was  ordained 
an  Evangelist  by  the  Presbytery  of  ISTew  York. 

Soon  after  his  ordination,  the  Presbyterian 
church  in  Fayetteville,  North  Carolina,  sought 
his  labors  as  a  pastor,  and  he  removed  thither 
and  devoted  himself  to  its  service,  though  he 
declined  to  enter  into  the  pastoral  relation.  He 
remained  in  Fayetteville  and  labored  with 
very  great  acceptance,  and  with  marked  use- 
fulness, till  the  early  part  of  1834,  when  under 


SERMON.  167 

a  strong  sense  of  duty,  though  greatly  regret- 
ted by  the  church  and  congregation,  he  re- 
turned to  the  North  with  a  view  to  remain 
there. 

About  that  time  the  South  Eeformed  Dutch 
church,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  extended  a 
call  to  him  to  become  their  pastor,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Eev.  Dr.  Matthews,  who  then, 
and  for  a  number  of  years  previously,  had  held 
the  pastoral  office  in  that  church  without  a 
colleague.  Simultaneously  with  that  movement 
in  the  South  Dutch  Church,  the  Pearl  street 
Presbyterian  church,  in  the  same  city,  called 
him  to  its  pastorate.  He  accepted  the  latter 
call,  and  was  installed  over  the  Pearl  street 
church  on  the  13th  of  April,  1834,  where  he 
remained  about  nine  years,  and  labored  with 
great  earnestness  and  encouraging  success,  not- 
Avithstanding  the  peculiar  infelicities  connected 
with  its  location. 


168  SERMON. 

Having  resigned  the  pastoral  office  in  that 
church,  and  subsequently  been  called  to  take 
charge  of  the  Presbyterian  church  in  Hones- 
dale,  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  on  the  14:th 
of  June,  1843j  he  was  installed  over  that  peo- 
ple. On  his  settlement  in  Honesdale,  he  found 
the  church  and  congregation  very  much  affect- 
ed by  unhappy  differences,  which  were  con- 
nected with  the  history  of  his  immediate  pre- 
decessor in  the  pastoral  office,  who  eventually 
was  deposed  from  the  gospel  ministry.  By 
the  blessing  of  God  upon  his  instrumentality, 
those  differences  soon  were  harmonized,  confi- 
dence and  affection  were  restored,  and  the 
congregation  increased  in  numbers  and 
strength,  and  was  marked  by  general  prosper- 
ity. Besides  its  growth  in  numbers  and 
material  resources,  many  of  its  members  were 
hopefully  converted  to  God,  and  added  to  the 
communion,  and  it  soon  became  one  of  the 


SERMON.  169 

most  interesting,  important  and  useful  cliurcli- 
es  in  the  Presbyterian  connection. 

From  Honesdale  lie  removed  to  this  city 
(Newark),  to  take  charge  of  this  church  (the 
Park  Presbyterian),  to  which  he  had  been  pre- 
viously called,  and  over  which  he  was  duly 
installed  by  the  Presbytery  of  Newark,  on  the 
23d  of  January,  1856.  With  what  assiduity, 
fidelity,  zeal,  and  success  he  has  labored  here, 
perhaps  most  who  hear  me  know.  Suf&ce  it 
to  say,  that  the  membership  of  the  church  and 
congregation  has  been  very  considerably  aug- 
mented,— the  interior  of  the  church  edifice  has 
been  refitted  and  handsomely  improved,  a 
much  needed  and  convenient  lecture-room  has 
been  erected,  and  the  general  interests  of  the 
congregation  have  been  most  encouragingly 
advanced,  in  connection  with  his  ministry. 
Thus  here,  in  this  sacred  temple  where  we 
are  assembled,  we  have  evidences  clustering 


170  SERMON. 

around  us,  not  oiilj  of  his  acceptableness,  but 
of  his  usefulness,  and  possession  of  many  rare 
traits  of  character,  admirably  fitting  him  for 
his  work.  But  he  has  fallen  in  the  midst  of 
his  labors, — in  the  strength  of  his  manhood, — 
and  when  bright  visions  as  to  the  future,  in 
the  history  of  his  charge,  were  calling  him  to 
increased  exertions,  which  he  earnestly  longed 
to  put  forth.  He  has  finished  his  course 
among  the  churches  ;  and  here  I  may  close  my 
remarks  upon  this  part  of  his  history,  and 
speak  of  other  tilings. 

As  a  man,  he  was  interesting  and  attractive. 
In  person,  he  was  above  the  ordinary  stature, 
well  proportioned,  having  a  finely  formed  and 
intelligent  face,  and  a  kind  expression  of  fea- 
tures. His  appearance  was  manly,  and  adapt- 
ed to  inspire  respect,  confidence  and  love.  He 
had  a  strong  sense  of  honor,  integrity,  and 
justice,  which  discovered  itself  in  all  the  de- 


SERMON.  171 

partments  of  life.  He  was  benevolent  and 
truthful.  He  cherished  a  strong  sympathy  for 
his  kind,  which  always  rendered  him  an  agree- 
able companion  in  those  circles  in  which  he 
had  occasion  to  be.  He  was  true  to  all  his 
friendships.  His  natural  temperament  was 
ardent,  cheerful,  and  confiding,  and  like  others 
of  that  peculiar  cast,  he  was  subject  to  seasons 
of  depression. 

He  was  a  sincere  man.  He  was  undisguised, 
open,  frank  in  spirit  and  in  action.  There 
was  with  him  no  concealment,  no  harboring 
in  his  bosom,  hidden  from  view,  the  feelings 
and  opinions  he  had  formed  concerning  men, 
or  their  procedure,  or  anything  else,  about 
which  his  position  or  his  duty  required  him  to 
speak.  He  frankly  uttered  his  convictions, 
purposes,  or  plans,  his  griefs  or  joys,  to  such 
an  extent  as  to  seem  almost  to  ignore  what  the 
world    calls   prudence.      He  preferred   to   be 


172  SERMON. 

betrayed  at  times,  and  wounded,  too,  by  the 
designing,  if  it  must  be  so,  than  to  suppress 
the  kind  and  generous  feelings  of  the  soul,  the 
exercise  of  undisguised  simplicity,  or  the  utter- 
ance of  what  he  regarded  truth.  In  this  re- 
spect, his  was  a  character  of  great  transpar- 
ency. 

He  was  eminently  a  good  man.  Of  his 
conversion  to  Christ,  and  genuine  attachment 
to  the  religion  of  the  gospel,  even  a  casual 
observer  would  scarcely  fail  to  receive  a  deep 
impression,  while  those  who  knew  him  intimate- 
ly, in  the  various  positions  incident  to  his  ac- 
tive ministerial  life,  received  it  still  more  deeply. 
He  uniformly,  though  unconsciously,  imparted 
the  conviction  to  beholders,  that  he  loved  the 
Saviour  and  his  cause.  His  cheerfulness  and 
mirth,  his  sorrows  and  his  sighs,  every  feeling 
and  principle  of  his  nature,  were  chastened, 
modified,  and  governed  by  the  laws  of  Chris- 


SEKMON.  173 

tian  obligation;  and  if  by  any  impulses  he 
was  led  to  strong  expressions,  or  decided  ac- 
tion in  a  wrong  direction,  he  would  soon  re- 
turn, and  find  his  proper  place,  as  a  conscien- 
tious, faithful  disciple  of  the  "  Son  of  nian." 

He  had  no  long-cherished  hatred  to  gratify 
— no  old  grudges  to  revenge.  If  maligned, 
or  ill-treated,  his  sanguine  temperament  might 
produce  prompt  and  strong  remonstrance,  or 
sudden  effort  at  adjustment,  as  he  conceived 
the  cause  of  truth  and  righteousness  required ; 
but  he  soon  forgave  the  wrong,  and  acted  as 
though  it  had  been  done  in  ignorance,  or  per- 
haps not  done  at  all. 

Governed  by  the  law  of  Christian  love,  he 
cheerfully  took  part  in  measures  designed  for 
individual  and  public  welfare.  He  sympa- 
thized with  the  poor,  the  destitute  and  the 
oppressed,  even  as  an  elder  brother,  or  a  fa- 
ther;   and  many  a  suffering  individual,  and 


174  SERMON. 

family,  too,  have  enjoyed  the  advantage  of 
his  counsels,  his  words  of  consolation,  or  other 
forms  of  aid,  which  few  besides  the  recipients 
have  ever  known. 

He  was  a  man  of  unusual  ability.  His  in- 
tellectual capacity  was  much  above  that  of 
most  men.  His  studies  had  well  developed 
the  intellectual  powers  with  which  he  was  en- 
dowed by  nature,  and  qualified  him  to  occupy 
and  hold  with  honor  to  himself  and  friends, 
not  only  a  respectable,  but  a  distinguished 
place  among  the  more  eminent  ministers  of  the 
gospel.  Of  the  elevated,  or  superior  rank  of 
his  mind,  his  work,  entitled  ^^The  Path  of  Life^'' 
is  abundant  testimony.  Had  he  published  noth- 
ing else,  that  is  sufficient,  not  only  to  give  him 
rank  among  the  ablest  ministers  in  this  coun- 
try, and  abroad,  but  to  perpetuate  a  remem- 
brance of  him  as  a  benefactor  and  a  very 
strong  man  in  the  religious  world.     Already 


SERMON.  175 

his  name  is  fragrant  with  the  blessings  of 
many  inquirers  for  salvation,  who  by  that  pro- 
duction of  his  pen  have  been  led,  instrumen- 
tally,  into  the  light  and  joys  of  evangelical 
religion. 

His  work  entitled  the  ^'  Common  Maxims  of 
Infidelity^''  discovers  the  same  qualities  of 
mind.  In  that  volume  he  grappled  with 
the  "  strong  man  armed,"  and  fairly  overcame 
him  in  bis  palace,  and  despoiled  bim  of  his 
vaunted  power  and  glor}^  His  other  works, 
"  The  Path  of  Peace;'  and  ''  Light  in  a  Bark 
Alley;'  exbibit  the  same  traits — the  existence 
and  working  of  a  vigorous  intellect. 

But  strength  was  not  the  only  quality  of 
bis  mind.  He  liad  other  attributes  which 
fitted  him  for  compositions  of  quite  another 
type  than  those  to  whicb  reference  has  been 
made — qualities  wbich  rendered  his  contribu- 
tions to  tbe  public  press  quite  acceptable  to 


176  SERMON. 

the  lovers  of  "  liglit  literature."  His  writings, 
prompted  by  passing  events  in  domestic,  social, 
or  civil  life,  or  by  other  causes,  are  various  as 
to  their  topics  and  style  of  execution,  but  all 
bear  the  impress  of  one  intent  upon  some  good 
end.  If  they  contain  occasionally  a  phrase  or 
paragraph,  which  a  rigid  censorship  might 
desire  expunged,  none  who  read  them  without 
prejudice  would  put  down  aught  to  malice  in 
the  author.  They  bear  upon  their  face  the 
evidence  rather  of  a  kind  and  genial  spirit, 
which  would  shrink  from  inflicting  a  wound, 
even  on  those  whose  foibles,  or  errors,  it  might 
mirthfully  expose,  with  a  view  to  secure  their 
reform. 

But  I  am  anxious  to  say,  what  I  feel  assured 
his  people,  and  all  who  knew  him,  will  con- 
firm :  He  was  an  excellent  Pastor. 

I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  in  this  relation  he 
was  perfect.     Perfection  belongs  only  to  the 


SERMON.  177 

great  Head  of  tlie  cliurcli.  But  I  do  mean  to 
saj,  that  lie  was  remarkably  endowed  with 
qualities  adapted  to  that  sacred  and  important 
office,  and  fitted  to  render  him  useful,  success- 
ful, and  happy  in  it,  whatever  want  of  perfec- 
tion might  have  been  attached  to  him. 

He  appreciated  the  office  and  its  relations, 
and  cherished  a  deep  and  an  abiding  sense  of 
its  responsibilities. 

He  sincerely  loved  the  duties  of  a  pas- 
tor, and  devoted  himself  without  reserve  to 
the  performance  of  them.  His  whole  heart 
went  into  the  work  to  which  he  had  been 
called,  and  his  ministry  was  consequently  not 
marked  as  a  divided  service. 

As  a  preacher  he  had  more  than  ordinary 
ability.  In  his  sermons  he  studied  clearness 
of  method,  comprehensiveness  of  thought  and 
expression,  and  directness  in  application  to 
the  condition  and  wants  of  his  hearers.  His 
8* 


178  SERMON. 

preacMng  partook  more  of  a  didactic  and  ar- 
gumentative, than  of  a  discursive  and  horta- 
tory form.  Doctrinal  discussion  held  a  prom- 
inent place  in  his  pulpit  exercises.  Though 
not  insensible  to  the  beauties  of  rhetoric, 'and 
competent  to  a  highly  finished  order  of  com- 
position, he  aimed  rather  to  instruct  and  to 
persuade  to  a  life  of  godliness,  than  to  attract 
admiration  by  a  display  of  mere  genius,  or 
any  of  the  ornaments  of  style.  In  manner  he 
was  plain,  yet  uniformly  earnest  and  impas- 
sioned. 

Prompted  by  industry,  which  was  natural 
to  him,  as  well  as  by  the  force  of  religious 
principle,  he  visited  the  members  of  his  con- 
gregation frequently,  and  kept  himself  apprised 
of  their  moral  and  religious  state,  and  of  their 
various  wants.  He  visited  the  dwellers  in  the 
lanes  and  alleys  of  the  city ;  he  entered  the 
stores  of  the  merchants,  the  shops  of  the  me- 


SERMOX.  179 

chanics,  the  business  places  of  the  workmen 
of  different  trades,  manifestly  with  as  much 
interest  as  he  visited  others  in  other  ^ parts  of 
the  citj,  and  in  what  is  regarded  by  some  as 
the  more  elevated  walks  of  life.  His  errand 
to  those  places  was  to  seek  for  opportunities  of 
doing  good,  as  a  minister  of  the  gospel.  He 
desired  to  convey  to  those  he  visited  the  word 
of  life — to  gather  them  into  the  fold  of  Christ ; 
or,  if  they  were  already  members  of  the  di- 
vine family,  to  promote  in  them  the  growth 
of  grace.  He  knew  how  to  be  condescending, 
and  also  how  to  be  firm.  He  knew  how  to  en- 
courage, and  also  how  to  rebuke,  for  the  wel- 
fare of  the  soul,  and  the  honor  of  the  Saviour 
and  his  cause ;  and  in  these  things,  and  this 
course  of  procedure,  doubtless  lay  the  secret 
of  much  of  his  success  in  the  pastoral  office. 
He  was  deeply  interested  in  the  children 
and  youth  of  liis  church.     Apparently  he  was 


180  SERMON. 

never  better  pleased,  or  bappj,  than  when 
with  them, — taking  part  in  their  affairs,  com- 
municating some  instructions,  and  seeking  to 
interest  them  in  moral  and  religious  things. 
With  remarkable  facility  he  could  enter  into 
their  conceptions^  and  identify  himself  with 
them,  and  when  he  had  imparted,  the  les- 
sons which  he  designed,  resume  his  former 
position,  and  engage  again  in  the  duties  of  his 
office  among  the  older  members  of  his  charge. 
But  while  he  foithfully  labored  for  the  wel- 
fare of  his  congregation,  and  longed  for  its 
advancement  with  a  strong  and  consuming 
desire,  his  feelings  were  deeply  enlisted  in  the 
prosperity  of  the  denomination  to  which  he 
belonged.  He  identified  himself  at  an  early 
day  with  the  policy  and  plans  of  the  leading- 
members  of  the  body,  and  enjoyed  to  a  large 
extent  the  confidence  and  respect  of  those  who 
knew  him,  and  was  allowed,  in  the  ecclesiasti- 


SERMON.  181 

cal  assemblies,  local  and  general,  of  whicli  lie 
was  at  any  time  a  member,  an  honorable 
share  of  influence. 

It  would  add  strength  to  the  convictions  we 
now  have  of  the  loveliness  and  excellence  of 
his  character,  if  I  might  speak  of  him  as 
known  in  his  domestic  circle,  and  fulfilling  the 
duties  of-  his  various  relations  within  it.  But 
I  may  not  intrude  upon,  the  scenes  of  private 
and  domestic  life.  I  may  say,  however,  that 
he  was  a  kind,  affectionate,  and  good  father,  a 
tender  and  devoted  husband,  a  sympathizing 
and  generous  brother.  He  was  to  his  family  a 
happy  exemplification  of  what  the  names  of 
the  relations  he  bore  in  it  signify.  But  he  is 
taken  from  it,  from  his  church,  and  tlie 
world,  to  the  enjoyment  of  the  reward  of  the 
"  good  and  faithful  servant." 

As  we  can  see  him  no  more  in  the  midst  of 
us,  discharging  the  duties,  or  exercising  the 


182  SERMON. 

functions,  of  tlie  sacred  office  whicli  he  held, 
let  us  convey  ourselves  in  imagination  at  least 
to  the  place  where  his  last  days  were  spent. 
Let  us  with  reverence,  becoming  stillness  and 
solemnity  enter  the  sick  chamber,  and  view 
him  amid  the  scenes  of  approaching  and  ac- 
tual dissolution.  Let  us  remember,  that  not 
till  recently  did  he  entertain  a  conviction  that 
his  earthly  work  was  nearly  done, — that  he 
was  about  to  be  called  from  time  to  eternity. 
At  his  departure  from  this  city,  in  July 
last,  to  visit  the  eastern  part  of  Massachu- 
setts, and  indeed  for  some  days  after  his  ar- 
rival in  Boston,  where  he  was  detained  by 
increasing  illness,  and  where  he  eventually 
died,  he  entertained  the  confident  expectation 
of  speedily  recovering  his  health,  and  then  of 
resuming  his  ministerial  labors.  It  was  but  a 
very  short  period  previous  to  his  decease  that 
he  abandoned  that  expectation,   and  became 


SERMON.  183 

convinced  that  he  was  near  his  end.  The 
scenes  of  that  moment  when  he  'gave  up  the 
hope  of  recovery  were  scenes  which  language 
is  incompetent  fully  to  portray  ;  but  they  were 
all  honorable  to  himself,  in  all  the  relations 
he  sustained,  to  the  religion  he  professed, 
and  of  which  he  was  a  minister.  He  received 
the  intimations  of  his  friends  on  the  subject, 
and  the  convictions  of  his  own  mind,  not 
merely  with  composure,  but  as  a  Christian  far 
advanced  in  the  divine  life,  and  ripe  for  the 
anticipated  change. 

The  nature  of  the  malady  by  which  he  was 
affected,  was  such  that  his  physician*  had  di- 
rected that  he  should  be  kept  entirely  quiet. 
Owing  to  the  state  of  his  throat,  he  could  con- 
verse but  little,  and  only  with  great  effort. 
When  he  spoke,  it  was  with  such  indistinct- 
ness, that  it  was  extremely  dif&cult  to  under- 

*  Dr.  Jeffreys. 


184  SERMON. 

Stand  liis  words.  But  it  was  satisfactory  to 
know,  as  it  was  known  by  various  means,  tliat 
his  mind  was  clear,  that  he  apprehended  his 
condition,  and  that  he  retained  his  conscious- 
ness to  the  Last. 

On  one  occasion  a  httle  before  his  death,  he 
clearly  manifested  the  strong  affection  which 
he  still  entertained  for  his  family,  his  friends, 
his  church,  and  all  the  interests  which  had  been 
committed  to  his  care.  His  thoughts  became 
too  intense  to  be  pent  up  in  his  bosom,  and 
under  the  excitement,  he  tried  to  speak.  He 
spoke  with  tlie  relatives  who  attended  upon 
him,  and  took  an  affectionate  farewell  of  them, 
and  sent  farewell  messages  to  those  members  of 
his  family  who  were  absent.  He  remembered, 
too,  the  people  of  his  charge,  and  wished  to  leave 
for  them  his  dying  counsels.  He  began  to 
speak,  pronounced  a  word  or  two,  but  his  ut- 
terance was  unequal  to  his  wishes ;  a  pause  en- 


SERMON.  185 

sued,  liis  strength  was  gone,  and  he  could 
not  complete  what  he  had  commenced  and  de- 
sired to  say. 

Subsequently  there  were  moments  \vhen  he 
could  and  did  speak  at  least  a  few  words.  And 
when  he  could  be  understood,  it  was  strikingly 
manifest  that  he  enjoyed  a  most  happy  frame 
of  mind.  Illustrative  of  this  is  the  following 
fact.  When  the  Kev.  Dr.  Blagden,  one  of  the 
pastors  in  Boston,  in  one  of  the  last  interviews 
which  he  held  with  him  and  his  attendants, 
quoted  a  passage  of  Scripture,  adapted  to  the 
occasion,  Dr.  Eowland  exclaimed  with  much 
and  manifestly  joyous  emotion:  "  The  Lord  is 
good !  The  Lord  is  good  !  The  Lord  is  wise  ! 
Praise  the  Lord." 

When  asked,  a  few  days  before  his  death, 
whether  he  could  still  place  his  confidence  in 
Jesus, — he  replied :  "  Yes,  I  rejoice  !  I  rejoice!" 

On    one  occasion,  after    having  laid  quiet 


186  SERMON. 

for  a  considerable  time,  he  raised  his  arm,  and 
pointed  towards  heaven :  His  wife  noticing 
the  attitude  said  to  him  : 

"  You  see  the  beautiful  land?" 

He  nodded  assent  twice. 

Another  friend  then  said  to  him  : 

"  You  will  soon  be  there,  and  your  trials 
will  be  over." 

He  again  nodded  assent,  and  said  :  "  Home  !" 

The  friend  rejoined  : 

"  There  you  will  meet  many  loved  ones,  who 
have  gone  before." 

He  said  :   "  More  !  more  !" 

"  You  mean,"  said  the  friend,  "  jou  will 
see  Jesus,  whom  you  love  more  than  all  the 
rest?" 

He  nodded  three  times,  as  if  he  wished  to 
give  emphasis  to  the  thought,  and  said : 

"The  Lamb!  The  Lamb  !" 

Christian  friends,  and  members  of  this  be- 


SERMON.  187 

loved  church,  these  utterances  and  these  scenes 
of  the  dying  chamber  which  have  now  held 
your  attention  a  brief  moment,  reveal  the  frame 
of  mind  in  which  your  pastor  died.  You  may 
now  return  from  the  sacred  spot  where  he 
closed  his  useful  life,  and  where  you  have  now 
seen  the  triumphs  of  Christian  faith,  over  death 
and  all  its  associations  to  this  sanctuary.  For 
the  last  words  of  your  beloved  Pastor,  you 
have  now  heard.  The  last  moment  of  his 
earthly  life,  you  have  now  seen.  You  left  him 
in  an  ecstacy  of  joy,  ravished  with  a  view  of 
the  "Lamb,"  the  great  and  glorious  Saviour  of 
sinners.  You  saw  him  then  going  rapidly  to 
the  embrace  of  that  Saviour,  and  to  a  trium- 
phant and  most  welcome  entrance  into  the  celes- 
tial city — the  paradise  of  God,  where  no  sin 
nor  sorrow  enters,  and  where  he  must  be  in- 
creasingly happy  forevermore.  Under  the 
guidance  and  protection  of  "  The  Lamb,"  he 


188  SERMON. 

is  safe.  And  I  am  persuaded,  that  you,  even 
in  tlie  midst  of  your  sorrows  because  of  your 
bereavement,  can  rejoice  to  leave  him  in  the 
heavenly  world  to  "follow  the  Lamb  whither- 
soever he  goeth."  Cease,  then,  your  sorrow- 
ing and  your  tears,  and  rejoice  that  your  Pas- 
tor has  entered  into  life  eternal. 

Eelatives  and  friends  of  the  deceased — can 
you  not  heartily  unite  in  this  sentiment  ?  We 
know,  indeed,  that  your  hearts  bleed — that 
your  sorrow  is  deep  —  your  affliction  over- 
whelmiijg,  especially  when  you  think  of  the 
bereavementyouhave  suffered.  But  think  of  the 
scenes  of  which  I  have  spoken,— of  the  rewards 
to  which  your  beloved  has  gone !  What 
higher  honors,  what  greater  and  more  enduring 
good,  could  you  ask  for  him !  With  him  all 
evils  are  at  an  end,  and  pure  and  perfect  hap- 
piness is  enjoyed.  And  it  is  to  be  continued 
for  ever. 


SERMON.  189 

"  Lo  !  the  prisoner  is  released, 
Lightened  of  his  fleshly  load  ; 
Where  the  weary  are  at  rest, 
He  is  gathered  unto  God  I 
Lo !  the  pain  of  hfe  is  past, 
All  his  warfare  now  is  o'er ; 
Death  and  hell  behind  are  cast, 
Grief  and  suffering  are  no  more. 
Yes,  the  Christian's  course  is  run, 
Ended  is  the  glorious  strife ; 
Fought  the  fight,  the  work  is  done, 
Death  is  swallowed  up  of  life  1 
Borne  by  angels  on  their  wings, 
Far  from  earth  the  spirit  flies, 
Finds  his  God,  and  sits  and  sings, 
Triumphing  in  Paradise." 

From  this  delightful  view  of  the  state  of  the 
believers  in  Christ  after  death — and  we  confi- 
dently believe  that  he  whom  you  now  mourn  is 
in  the  enjoyment  of  it — you  may  derive  much 
consolation.  But  let  me  remind  you  that  there  is 
a  sure  and  unfailing  source  of  support  to  which 
you  may  always  repair,   and  have   all  your 


190  SERMON. 

griefs  assuaged.  The  Saviour  has  been  mani- 
fested in  the  flesh,  that  he  might  sympathize 
with  his  people.  Go,  therefore,  to  him,  cast  all 
your  burdens  on  him,  for  he  careth  for  you. 
Trust  in  him,  and  he  will  not  only  sustain  and 
comfort  you,  but  this  dark,  perplexing  and 
crushing  dispensation,  which  baffles  all  your 
attempts  now  to  understand,  he  will  most  cer- 
tainly enable  you  to  comprehend  hereafter. 
To  him,  and  to  the  word  of  his  grace,  I  com- 
mend you ;  praying  that  he  will,  through  this 
life,  support  and  comfort  you,  and  when  it 
shall  be  ended,  an  entrance  may  be  ministered 
to  you  abundantly,  into  his  everlasting  king- 
dom with  exceeding  joy. 

Brethren  of  the  ministry  !  How  loud  the 
appeal,  how  solemn  the  language  of  this  be- 
reavement to  us !  With  what  urgency  and 
power  does  it  admonish  us  to  be  active,  ear- 
nest, and  diligent  in  our  work!     We  may  be 


SERMOK.  19 1 

near  the  close  of  our  earthly  service  !  But  a 
few  weeks  since,  our  lamented  brother  trod  the 
streets  of  this  city  with  a  firm  and  vigorous 
step,  proclaimed  with  strong  and  healthful 
voice  the  truths  of  the  gospel  in  this  desk,  and 
took  part  in  all  the  activities  of  life,  as  we  do 
this  day.  But  he  has  ended  his  course.  It 
has  pleased  the  Master  suddenly  to  withdraw 
hitn — to  call  him  to  his  reward.  Let  us, 
therefore,  be  vigilant.  Let  us  do  with  our 
might  whatsoever  our  hands  find  to  do,  that 
when  called  to  render  the  account  of  our  stew- 
ardship, it  may  be  said  to  us  individually  by 
our  divine  Lord  and  Master, — 

"  Well  done,  thou  good  and  faithful  servant ; 
thou  hast  been  faithful  over  a  few  things,  I 
will  make  thee  ruler  over  many  things :  enter 
thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord." 


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